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Oldest Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation member, female WWII veteran dies at 111

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Posted at 10:05 AM, Nov 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-19 11:05:14-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Wednesday, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation announced the death of their oldest member.

Julia Kabance died Tuesday, the nation announced on Facebook. She was 111 years old.

Kabance was born on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation in 1910, according to the Facebook post.

She attended college at what is now known as the Haskell Indian Nations University and later the University of Kansas, before joining the Women's Army Corp in WWII.

"On March 17, 1943 she joined the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) during World War II and was stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state in the Adjutant Corps," the post said.

She then spent much of her life volunteering.

"Honorably discharged in 1945 she returned to civilian life where she continued to give of herself by volunteering for seventeen years at the VA in Topeka," the post said. "She was active with the Catholic Church and was a life-member of the American Legion We-Ta-Se Post 410."

There will be a viewing and Rosary Friday at 5:30 p.m. and a burial Saturday at 9 a.m. in St. Marys, Kansas, at the Assumption Chapel. A reception will be held after at St. Mary's Senior Center.