BLACKFORD, Anna L. (1925-2010)

BLACKFORD

Posted By: Don Boucher (email)
Date: 5/16/2013 at 09:28:35

Obituary from The Des Moines Register newspaper, Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, USA on 12-25-2010:

Anna Louise Thompson Blackford, 85, died Thursday, December 23, 2010 at Valley View Village in Des Moines. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, December 27 at Iles Funeral Homes-Grandview Park Chapel. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, December 28 at the funeral home followed by burial at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Anna was born in the Des Moines area on October 3, 1925, a coal miner's daughter, the youngest of the eight children of John and Betty Thompson. In 1941, at age 16, she graduated from East High School then began working for Iowa Pack where she worked for over 10 years. She and Homer Blackford married in 1946 and together they raised their ten children in Des Moines.

Anna had a great entrepreneurial spirit and created many small business ventures. She sold Memorial Day flowers, rented tandem bikes at the State Fairgrounds and, most notably, was an Iowa State Fair Concessionaire for over 50 years. She sold everything from Cotton Candy to Snow Cones and Popcorn.

Anna and her children loved the State Fair rarely missing a day of the Fair during her 50 years of concession work. She gave everything she had to her children, even working as a waitress at the Hotel Fort Des Moines in the 1970's and 1980's to help earn extra money for her children's educations. In her later years Anna enjoyed playing cards and going to Las Vegas. She loved to spend time with her children and grandchildren. She bestowed on them a legacy of optimism, love, hard work and fun.

Those left to cherish Anna's memory include her husband of 64 years, Homer; ten children, Linda (Dick) Hill, Carl (Dawn), Nancy (Mike) Schrader, Steven (Karen), Dennis (Kathy), Gary (Kathy), Tim (Betsy), Gregg (Stacy), Cherie (Dan) Schuler and Brian (Jenny); 27 grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her grandson, Steven Blackford, Jr.

The family would like to thank all those who helped to care for Anna in the past year at Valley View Village. They especially thank their mother's good friend, Ruth, for being so kind to their mother.