FRANCES JEAN BLANKENSHIP

Montana Creek resident Frances Jean Blankenship, 75, died March 18, 2003, at Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospital.

A visitation will be held at Kehl's Palmer Mortuary, located at 209 S. Alaska Street, at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March, 29. A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. with Rev. Damond Blankenship officiating. A potluck reception will be held at 668 E. Beaver Street immediately following the service.

Mrs. Blankenship was born Feb. 11, 1928, in Salamanca, N.Y. She worked as a telephone operator, a waitress and a wild game catcher in Leesburg, Fla. from 1947 to 1964. She came to Alaska in April 1965, and lived in Anchorage, Silver Lake, Moose Pass and Willow. Mrs. Blankenship worked as a travel agent, bullcook, salad chef and waitress. She owned Silver Lake Lodge and also operated a bed and breakfast. She was a member of the Hotel Restaurant Union and also a member of the Unity Church.

Her hobbies included embroidering, sewing, upholstering and traveling.

Her family wrote, "She was a beautiful, loving, strong-willed and generous woman who never backed down from a challenge. She could stretch a dollar farther than anyone and pinch a penny until it screamed for mercy to take care of her family. She was an amazing gal who came to Alaska and homesteaded in the Wrangells. She was a true pioneer."

She is survived by her husband Ralph A. Blankenship; brother William A. Nelson; sisters, Carol McCall, Virginia Getford and Jacqueline S. DeMichele; daughters, Linda Davis, Esther Van Meter, Nancy Sanders and Shirley Poulsen; son James E. Dann; stepsons, John and Damond Blankenship; stepdaughter Carol Soleing; 10 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and seven step-grandchildren.

Mrs. Blankenship was preceded in death by her brother George Nelson and her first husband, Dave Dann.

Arrangements were handled by Kehl's Palmer Mortuary.