Harold Maurice Blenn

Dad, I loved you!! To all my dear friends, who I also love, I have to share the news that Dad passed in his sleep, THANKFULLY, of a massive stroke last night. He was 89. All his family members had wonderful conversations with him individually this week, and I had an hour long fantastic upbeat conversation with him several days ago. He went to bed last night at the VA Home, joking with his favorite male nurse (who adored him), and apparently passed very quickly in the night. I am sharing some of my favorite photos of him from the last few years so we all can enjoy his smile one more time. He had a great smile!!! So many people in the VA home have lost their smiles and carry permanently sad faces, that I am forever grateful dad was able to share his with so many people right up to the end. He loved Hawaii and wanted to come one more time, so I will scatter some of his ashes here.

He was living in a VA Home in The Dalles, Oregon, for the last several years after having heart bypass surgery, and the home is on lockdown due to Coronavirus, so I am grateful he never got the Virus. He was feeling pretty good, cheery, teasing the people he liked (felt a bit poor last night, but still joked) , then went to bed for the last time. A good ending for a great man. I am sad that none of his family or friends were able to visit, but we called, and he was quite perky this whole last week - for which I am very grateful. I am relieved it was in his sleep, very fast, and I bet he never felt a thing.

Thank you to everyone who showed their love to him over the years. He had some extremely rough things happen to him in his life but preferred to keep smiling whenever he could. For that, I am beyond grateful. He believed in being fair and absolutely hated to see anything alive being treated unjustly, which is why he became a policeman, dog catcher, and later a 15 bed nursing home operator- so he could make things better in the best ways he knew how. He quit the police force when just too many people became corrupt. In his mid 20's in Fullerton, California, he was on a Police motorcycle team that did fancy trick shows like the jet teams do, and he worked ambulance, and was a Sheriff working for Disneyland during its early years. He hated hot foods but working in California could have its hazards that way. One day he and another man were on ambulance duty and stopped for lunch. His partner said "here, try this pepper" so dad did- not knowing it was really hot. The partner ended up using the ambulance ventilator on dad!!

Jack of All Trades was a label appropriate for dad. He did everything : policeman , medic, dog catcher, nurse , Sheriff at Disneyland after it first opened, nursing home owner, snow plow operator, sold some of the first mobile phones ( briefcase size !) , bought and fixed up old homes ( with the family helping. So glad I learned those skills!), ski lodge owner/manager/cook/pool player-guest entertainer/and bouncer (Skiers Haven in Intervale, NH in the 60's), ski instructor in Jackson and Mt Cranmore, dance instructor, hunter, fisherman. He even goaded the family into hiking, and one time took us all up Tuckerman's Ravine, NH, to ski. My brother and I were young, so carrying our own skis did not last long and dad added them to his already heavy load that had all the ski boots, food, and his own skis ( and they were HEAVY back then ! ). Mom pooped out with before we reached the top of Mt Washington, so her skis added to his load- poor dad!! Luckily, he was young and strong! When we finally staggered into the weighing room at the top, his load was 150 lbs!!!!!

He met mom while he was a Corpsman in the Navy. They were both all suited up with just their eyes showing, delivering a baby, when they both looked up and their eyes met: love at first sight for him. He asked around until he was able to get her name, then took buses and the subway from where he was stationed in Chelsea, Mass, to her home in Boston. He found roses on the way and stuffed them in his suit jacket for safe keeping. At her home, she greeted him and he pulled out the roses, ta daaaa ! He was so nervous that he had just baked inside the suit jacket, and the roses were all wilted! What a beginning...

He liked to "do his duty' , so volunteered while still in the Navy to be a family that would experiment on birth control pills- new to the market. All was going well until the Navy Chaplain decided my parents were probably ready for a family and talked the head doctor into switching to placebo pills. - all without telling my parents. SURPRISE! Dad delivered me at Chelsea Naval Memorial, and 3 years later delivered my (planned) brother at home in Anaheim, CA, where they lived for a few years until deciding to head East to NH.

He and Mom moved to North Conway, NH in 1958, and looked for a home. The 1905 Victorian across from No. Conway Hospital was the one they fell in love with but was priced higher than dad could afford and already had an interested party, so dad talked to the owner. She was selling because she needed to move into a care home, which is just what he wanted to start since both he and mom were nurses. He promised Flossie, the owner, that he would remodel the home and she would have her pick of rooms and the best care, there, until she died, so she took his lower offer. Dad and mom remodeled the home into a 15-bed nursing home and created sleeping rooms and a living room in the basement for us. We lived under the nursing home for the next 12 years. Flossie spent her last days receiving great care in her own home and loved it.

I bought a condo as a 2nd home in Hilo, Hawaii 6 years ago, and brought dad here for a visit. He had never been to Hawaii, and fell totally in love with the ocean, the condo, the people. Fishing was free, so he did as much as he could, and we explored the whole island by car, camping the whole way. What fun! He was a great person to drive, explore, camp with (he slept in the van, I had a hammock)! We both just loved driving, exploring, visiting new places and people. He made many friends in Hawaii.

I love you Dad!! Thanks for all the great memories, and always being supportive, no matter how far from your dreams mine were. You always remained a flexible thinker and lent an open ear to what people had to say- especially us kids. You were usually gentle when you disagreed. Supporting our dreams almost always benefited all of us, so I really appreciate your open mindedness and help, even when you were initially skeptical. You always gave people the benefit of the doubt- a rare and very admirable quality.

To all my friends who knew Dad: please send me a story about him, and a picture (or more) if you have one. It would mean A LOT!!!

THANK YOU !!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOX Julie