Mareldine V. Blake, 93

Jan. 25, 1922 - June 6, 2015

Mareldine (Sis) Victoria Muser Blake was born to Katherine and Mayo Muser on Jan. 25, 1922, in Erwin, S.D. The second of five children, she grew up during the Great Depression on the family farm.

Upon graduating from high school, Mareldine undertook nurse's training in Huron, S.D., 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 World War II Hospital Train crew to reach continental Europe. Mareldine arrived at Utah Beach in Normandy with five other nurses, two doctors and 3,000 GIs, serving on the Front from July 18 to Oct. 24, 1944. Her joint commendation reads "transported 5,465 patients under the most adverse conditions..."

Second lieutenant Muser continued nursing in several capacities in civilian life. Her most memorable assignment after the war was as Camp Nurse in Bethel, Alaska, for the New York-Alaska Gold Mining Company. Among the characters Mareldine 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 until daughter Jan reached school age, and then settled in Kirkland, Wash.

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.

Mareldine 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. Mareldine made baking a high art, and homemade pie was a food group in her house.

We will miss her.

Mareldine is survived by her sister, Helen Logan of Rapid City, S.D.; daughter Jan Clizer of Coeur d'Alene; grandchildren Jessica (Jon) McKenzie and Sawyer Clizer of 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 at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery, 21702 W. Espanola Road, Medical Lake, Wash., (509) 299-6280.

Memorials can be made to the Seattle Children's Hospital and Research Foundation, M/S S-200, P.O. Box 5371, Seattle, WA, 98145-5005. Gifts can also be made by calling (206) 987-2153 or (800) 635-1432.