Mareldine V. Blake January 25, 1922 - June 6, 2015
Mareldine V. Blake January 25, 1922 - June 6, 2015
Mareldine (Sis) Victoria (Muser) Blake was born to Katherine and Mayo Muser January 25, 1922 in Erwin, South Dakota. Second of five children, she grew up during the depression on the family farm. Upon graduating from high school, she undertook nurse’s training in Huron, SD, then Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Signing up for the Army Nursing Corps in 1943, she was first stationed in Taunton, England, transporting wounded via an underground tunnel to Wales, then chosen as a member of the first WWII Hospital Train crew to reach continental Europe, and arrived at Utah Beach in Normandy with 5 other nurses, 2 doctors and 3,000 GI’s, serving on the Front 18th July-24 Oct. 1944. Her joint commendation reads “transported 5,465 patients under the most adverse conditions…”.
2nd Lieut. Muser continued nursing in several capacities in civilian life. Her most memorable assignment after the War was ‘Camp Nurse’ in Bethel, Alaska for the New York-Alaska Gold Mining Company. Among the characters she encountered in the miners, their families and local Inuit Eskimos, she met Jack Blake, a maintenance welder, and they married in 1955. They continued working in Bethel till daughter Jan reached school age, and settled in Kirkland, Washington. Mareldine turned her skills to homemaking and painting, and her passion for creating and fine art continued throughout her life. She and Jack moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1989 to be near family, and have lived here since.
She was deeply gifted, highly intelligent, and loved to laugh. A success at whatever she turned her hand to, she was happiest when busy focused on creating a painting, or outside appreciating and exploring the natural world. Travel and learning were high on her list of favorite things. She made baking a high art, and homemade pie was a food group in her house. We will miss her.
She is survived by sister Helen Logan, Rapid City, SD; daughter Jan Clizer, Coeur d’Alene; grandchildren Jessica (Jon) McKenzie and Sawyer Clizer, Coeur d’Alene, and Alec (Marilyn) Gwinn-Scott in
California, five great grandchildren, cousin Margaret Schultz, her children and grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews and their families.
A memorial service will be held July 1, 9:45am at Washington State Veterans Cemetery, 21702 W. Espanola Road, Medical Lake, WA, tel. 509-299-6280. Memorials can be made to
Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Foundation
M/S S-200
PO Box 5371
Seattle, WA 98145-5005
Gifts can also be made by calling 206-987-2153 or 1-800-635-1432.