Obit of Washburn, Blanche (w216) - Unknown County, Oklahoma

Submitted by:  Gene Phillips <okarchives@comcast.net>  18 Aug 2004
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BLANCHE WASHBURN
Published on September 25, 1994
The Santa Rosa Press Democratt

Blanche Washburn found herself raising five grandchildren in Santa Rosa so 
she took in six developmentally challenged women in 1968 to cover 
expenses.

"She was a remarkable woman," said Phyllis Herring at Lafferty & Smith 
Colonial Chapel in Santa Rosa. "She cared for those ladies like they were 
members of her family."

Washburn died Saturday at a Petaluma hospital of heart failure. She was 
84.

Born in Oklahoma, she attended schools in Oklahoma City. She worked in the 
shipyards in Portland and Vancouver on the Columbia River during World War 
II. She last lived in Petaluma and was a Sonoma County resident for 43 
years.

Her granddaughter, Brenda Seminoff of Petaluma, said Washburn retired as a 
home-care provider in the early 1980s. She helped establish The Friendship 
Club for mentally challenged women in the 1970s in Windsor, the forerunner 
of the Creative Living Center in Santa Rosa.

Seminoff recalled her grandmother taking her four granddaughters, a friend 
of the girls, and her six special charges on a sixweek tour that included 
Oklahoma City. She also took the group to the World's Fair in Spokane, 
Wash. And when she retired, the entire group went to Hawaii.

Only her grandson, Robert Murrin of Vacaville, missed the trips. He had 
already left home.

Besides Seminoff and her grandson, Washburn is survived by her daughter, 
Barbara Murrin of Las Vegas, Nev.; other granddaughters, Marta Fyffe of 
New Orleans, Marrie Murrin of Santa Rosa and Linda Langston of Highland; 
and 10 greatgrandchildren.

She requested no public services. A private memorial service will be held 
later for family and friends.
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