RIP Jean Henrietta Gundersen Blanton

My mother passed away on Monday, July 13, 2020 at age 96.  She had been in poor physical and mental health for a long time, so her passing was surely a blessing for her and a relief from her pain.  Still, I am sad.  (Click on photos for larger versions.)

Age 3

Jean was born on December 5, 1923 in Everett, MA.  She was a surprise addition to her family and her brother and sisters were much older.  Mom was a good student and very active in Rainbow Girls, reaching the level of Grand Worthy Advisor.  She graduated from Tufts (Jackson College for Women) in 1944 and spoke both French and German.

She looked for work in New York City but was unable to find anything, so when her older sister asked her to go to Brazil to tutor her nieces, she jumped at the chance for adventure.

Romance in Brazil

Cowgirl on the farm

She probably got more adventure than she bargained for because that's where she met my father, Gerald Blanton.  They returned to Oklahoma, where my father was from, and proceeded to have two children, me in 1948 and my brother Jerry in 1951. Later in 1951 they purchased a small farm near Shawnee, OK.  Sadly, after a lot of work to get the farm in shape, it all blew away in a tornado on May 1, 1954.  We barely escaped with our lives. (See an earlier post for the story.)

My sister Melissa, who spent the last few years caring for Mom, came along in 1956.

All dressed for Easter

Later years involved a move to California and then Maryland where she lived for a long time.  They were not kind years in many ways because of the end of her marriage and because she suffered from extreme depression and anxiety.  Her only real joy was her beloved grandson, Paul Selby. I don't have photos of her from those years.






My last photo is from 2018 when the ravages of dementia had already begun to take a toll.







I prefer to think of Mom when she was in her radiant youthful years even though I did not know her then.

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