Frances M. (Mann) Russette, Whirling Woman, 88, passed away due to natural causes at Benefis Healthcare on Saturday, May 24, 2025.  Wake services will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Box Elder.  A Rosary will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, and Frannie's funeral will be at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, also at St. Anthony's Catholic Church.  Burial will follow in the Russette Family Cemetery.  Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

Frannie was born on December 17, 1936, in Fort Belknap to Frank and Mildred (Mount) Mann, the second of thirteen children.  She was raised in the Hays area, attending school there and then moving on to Flandreau Boarding School for her high school education.  Frannie returned home and began a relationship with Gene Russette in the late 1950s, a relationship that lasted until his death in 2006.  The couple had 5 children, whom they raised in Rocky Boy.  Education was very important to Frannie, so after her last child was born, she attended Northern Montana College, where she obtained her Bachelor's Degree in education.  She then taught at Rocky Boy elementary for 25 years, and after her retirement, she went on to teach at Stone Child College off and on for several years.

Frannie was a kind, loving, reserved woman who enjoyed singing in her younger years, and traveling and playing BINGO in more recent years.  Her family was the most important to her, and she adored each and every one.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Gene Russette; children, Susan, Lawrence, and Pete Russette; parents, Frank and Mildred Mann; siblings, David, Thomas Donald, Norman, Mabel, Margie, Lorraine, Christine, and Matsey Mann; and other extended family members.

Frannie is survived by her children, Russell, Tina (Mike LaMere), and Kristina (Martin Watson) Russette, all of Rocky Boy; seventeen grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; siblings, Gertrude Werk of Hays, Tony Mann of Great Falls, Wilma (Kermit) Morsette of Rocky Boy, and Kris Main, Nickolee (Joey) Kirkaldie, and Dorothy Christensen, all of Hays; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and other extended family and friends.