submitted
OTTUMWA —
Elizabeth Mary Blankenship-Dubé, 93, of Mahtomedi, Minn., formerly of Ottumwa, died on June 29, 2012, at St. Andrews Village.
She was born on Nov. 29, 1918, in Indianapolis, Ind., the only child of Herbert and Elsie Grace Bohlinger. In 1941, she married John M. Blankenship. He preceded her in death in 1972. In 1979, she married retired Alcoa executive Lawrence E. “Larry” Dubé. They made their home in Sarasota, Fla., until his death in 2006, after which she relocated to Minnesota, where for many years the family had maintained a summer residence.
Betty and John moved to Ottumwa with their three children in 1954 and lived there until 1967. They were active members of First Presbyterian Church, and Betty was involved in various community organizations, among them P.E.O., Fortnightly and the Ottumwa Country Club. Until his retirement, when they relocated to Tallahassee, Fla., her husband John was an executive with John Morrell & Co. Before moving to Ottumwa, the family lived in Storm Lake for eight years and also in LaGrange, Ill.
Betty graduated from Washington High School in Indianapolis in 1936, where she was the Queen of May, and then from Indiana Central Business College two years later. She served as a legal secretary in the Indianapolis law firm of Goodrich and Campbell until the birth of her first child. A trained soprano, she sang in professional choirs there but discontinued performing after her marriage. In addition to music, Betty loved antiques and libraries, and in both her youth and her Sarasota years was a daily patron of the latter. She was called “Gretty” by her grandchildren and “Elizabeth” by her husband Larry. Known for her gracious conversation as well as her beauty, Betty was also a very hard worker.
She is survived by her son, Bruce Blankenship of Flagstaff, Ariz.; her daughters, Jayne Blankenship of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Mary B. Martin of White Bear Lake, Minn.; Larry’s son, Lawrence E. Dubé Jr. of Baltimore; four grandchildren; two stepgrandsons; two great-granddaughters; and one stepgreat-granddaughter.
A memorial service will be 4 p.m. Saturday at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Fla. Betty’s body has been cremated and will be privately interred beside her husband John’s grave in Tallahassee the following week.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Ottumwa Public Library.
