Reuben Wambdi Kitto Jr.

Reuben was born on April 12, 1933, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the first son of Reuben and Alice (Skillings) Kitto, and was a proud member of the Santee Sioux Nation. He lived the first eight years of his life on the Dakota Reservation in Santee, NE. In those eight years, their family was expanded by two with the births of Laura Edith (Morgan) in 1934 and Margaret Bessie Lucy (Butz) in 1939. In 1941, the Family moved to Minneapolis, MN.

Upon graduation from high school, Reuben enlisted in the US Navy and would spend the next few years participating in the Korean War and the next 25 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve. In his time in the service, he spent 1660 hours including both training and operational missions as an air crewman on P2V Neptune and P3 Orion Anti-Submarine Patrol Aircraft until he retired from the Reserves in 1976 as a Chief Warrant Officer Three (CWO3), Aviation Ordnance Specialist.

In 1955, Reuben attended the University in Minnesota, where he was integral in the formation of the first American Indian Club, a precursor to the American Indian Student Association, which is still in existence today at the U of M. In 1959 Reuben was one of the first 12 American Indian students to graduate from the University of Minnesota where he garnered a degree in International Relations. In 2017, he was honored as one of the founders of U of M’s American Indian Student Association. As a lifelong learner, he continued taking select business courses at UCLA in San Diego, CA, and St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, FL and was a voracious reader.

After graduating, he began a long and illustrious career in the Aerospace Industry, beginning with General Dynamic Astronautics (San Diego, CA), Northrop Nortronics (Palos Verdes, CA), and finally landing at Honeywell in CLearwater Florida where he worked until his retirement in 1995, the last fifteen years spent as Group Director of Contract and Risk Management at Honeywell’s Space and Strategic Systems operations, responsible for the negotiation and management of high technology government contracts for guidance systems, satellite, systems, and undersea ballistic missile accelerometers and gyroscopes manufactured at various Honeywell plant locations.

During his children’s formative years, he made sure that they were included in activities that were generally not available for kids of color. He became a Scout Leader for Boy Scout Troop 40 in 1960’s and then Junior Achievement to ensure they were given the same life skills and experiences as other boys during that era. Reuben Wambdi’s career was aligned with a focus on combating harmful and false stereotypes of Indians that pervaded American society. His entire life was lived with traditional indigenous thought in a contemporary world, continuing to educate the generations, so the people can live.

Throughout his career, Reuben advocated for Native Americans by speaking the truth about the lack of Native representation in Honeywell’s employment structure and actively recruiting through multiple organizations to try to provide more opportunities for Native Americans to have access to good jobs. In that process, he attended the National Indian Education Association conference and was a member for over 30 years, attending most of the annual conferences. In 2016, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Indian Education Association.

Utilizing his skills in research and technology, Reuben created a family reunion history narrative for the Kitto side of his family and distributed it to his relatives. He and his sisters took it upon themselves to disseminate massive amounts of family history and in 1988 brought together over 350 family members from all over the country to a reunion in Santee, NE, his birthplace and the location of his Dakota relatives’ exile from MniSota Makoce. He continued educating his family to the week of his passing through phone calls, text messages, emails, and contributions to the Descendants of Mazaadid and Pazaheyayewin family group, always striving to ensure his family knew where they came from.

If you knew Reuben, you probably received a photograph from him at one time or another, as his greatest hobby was photography and graphic arts that paired well with his passion for family genealogy, Dakota History and family reunions.

Reuben lived as a role model for so many and his entire life was dedicated to his family. In the Dakota language it is “Mitakuye Owasin” describing the relatedness to all that has life. He is survived by his wife Sandra Kitto (Pound) of Largo, FL; his daughter Debby Kitto of St. Petersburg, FL; his son Greg Kitto of St.Petersburg, FL; his daughter Winona Kitto of St.Petersburg, FL; Ramona Kitto Stately of Shakopee, MN; his daughter Amanda Kitto of St. Petersburg, FL; his ex-wife Jillian Frers of St. Petersburg, FL; his grandchildren Nicholas A. Kitto, Danielle Kitto Freeman (Chad), Ramona Kitto, Annabell Kitto Stancil (Quinton), Jillian Elaine Stately, Reuben Kitto Stately, Levi Foe (Hannah), and Leah Foe; and his great-grandchildren Mari’Ella Stephens, Jerel Stephens, Shiloh Stancil and Violet Foe. He is also survived by his sister in law, Melody Raynor Owens and by numerous beloved nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sisters; his son, Daniel (Danny) Reuben Kitto; and his grandson, Donald (Donnie) Avery, Jr.

Reuben will be interred at Fort Snelling National Cemetery with Military honors in Minneapolis Minnesota. (TBA)