BLAKE, Frances Victoria died 2011

MCKENNA, BLAKE, SCHULTE, MAUSS, WHITE, BYRNES, LARSON, HEGEMAN

Posted By: IA GenWeb Volunteer
Date: 5/15/2011 at 15:24:49

Frances V. Blake

Frances V. Blake, 85, of Waukon died Sunday, April 3, 2011, at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Memorial services will be held at a later date. Private graveside services will be held in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Dorchester. Martin Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements.
Frances Victoria Blake was born on the rural Dorchester farm of her parents, John and Mary (McKenna) Blake. She spent much of her life teaching school in California before moving back to Waukon in 2005.
Frances is preceded in death by her parents; four brothers, Bill, John, Jimmy and Pat Blake; and seven sisters, Marie Schulte, Julia Mauss, Helen White, Patricia Byrnes, Gertrude Larson, Betty Hegeman and Beatrice Mauss.

The Waukon Standard, April 6, 2011

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Added by D. Cunningham 2/22/2020:

Frances Victoria Blake of Waukon, age 85, died April 3, 2011, preceded in death by her parents, John and Mary, and her ten older siblings. She was born and raised near Dorchester, living with her family in a log cabin near the confluence of Bear and Waterloo Creeks on a small farm that she would one day own.

In the early sixties, Frances taught in a one-room Allamakee County schoolhouse for several years. In the later sixties, she relocated to LeMoore, CA, where she continued her teaching career for another 30 years. She returned home to Iowa regularly and stayed in close contact with many of her 98 nieces and nephews. She also enjoyed travel, taking trips to Ireland, Alaska, Canada and many other locales. Frances especially enjoyed her frequent weekend drives to the Pacific Ocean, only a few hours from her home in the central valley.

After retirement in 2005, she returned to Iowa. Although she no longer drove, she enjoyed auto rides around the nearby area, ever appreciative of the scenic beauty of the countryside and the opportunity for a "one on one" visit with her chauffeurs. No one questioned the clarity of her mind, even as her physical health failed.

Upon her death, it was learned that her simple will clearly stated that her assets "be sold for the best price attainable" and the proceeds divided between the St. Mary's (Dorchester) cemetery perpetual care fund and St. Patrick's School (Waukon). Her executors, Kenneth Larsen of Dorchester, the late Romelle Mauss of La Crosse, WI and Maureen (Mauss) Strothman of Anoka, MN, have the heartfelt appreciation of most of the family for seeing that Frances' wishes were carried out, even when pressured by some that they be favored. No family farm will be put out of business, no one uprooted from their home, no CAFO constructed because of Frances' generosity to the community. To paraphrase Frances: They (the executors) did it her way.

Source: The Standard, Wednesday, December 21, 2011--Waukon, Iowa

from my parents obituary collection