Aunt Crystal

Crystal H. Blanchard, 94, a lifelong resident of Fremont County, died Jan. 20, 2009, in the Ashton Living Center.
She was born April 22, 1914, in Ashton, the daughter of Alma Martin Hansen and Anna Katinka Rasmussen Hansen. She grew up in a bilingual family where English and Danish were spoken. She attended school in Ashton.
She married Delbert A, Blanchard on February 29, 1932, in Kaysville, Utah. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS temple. They made their home in Chester, where her husband owned and operated the Chester Store and served as postmaster for nearly 40 years. She was a active member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving as the Relief Society secretary for approximately 10 years. She was also the Chester correspondent for the Fremont County News for more than 20 years.
Her husband died Dec. 29, 1981.
Crystal continued to live at her home in Chester until ill health forced her into a nursing home for the last seven years. In her younger years she liked to play basketball, dance and snow ski. Later, she enjoyed taking care of her yard and flowers and doing genealogy. She and her husband enjoyed traveling to on many trips including Mexico City, Denmark and Western Europe.
She is survived by her children Shirleen (Hank) Hoeger of Rigby, Maxine (Russell) Jensen of Salt Lake City and Delmont Blanchard of Chester; 13 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great grandchildren. Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by two stepdaughters , Theron and Zelma, two brothers, three sisters and one grandson, Jack.
Funeral services will be conducted Friday, Jan. 23, 2009, at noon in the Ashton LDS Stake center with Bishop Gordon Williams officiating. Friends may call at the Bidwell Funeral Home on Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. and Friday from 11 until 11:45 a.m. just prior to the services. Burial will be in the Pineview Cemetery in Ashton.

This past week has had me pondering about life--it really is precious. With the unexpected passing of one of our primary teachers this last week, I was already thinking about changes I wanted to make to my life. To make it more meaningful etc. But then yesterday I found out that my sweet Aunt Crystal passed away as well. (top picture) She was 94, my Grandma Brown's older sister/best friend and lived a very rich, and fulfilled life. She traveled the world and loved life. She always had a candy dish with little hard candies for whenever we visited. (although I don't remember ever getting a one that I liked!) She lived in Chester just down the road from us. She looked so much like my Grandma Brown (bottom picture).--although her hair was a bit more poofy. Grandma passed away just before I was married--almost 13 years ago. I've only seen Aunt Crystal a couple of times since Grandma passed, but I saw her all the time when I was younger. What I found strange in this whole mourning process, is that even though I was much closer to Aunt Crystal than the primary teacher, I have felt more sadness and more traumatized over the passing of our neighbor who I only knew a couple of years and mostly in primary. I guess I find peace knowing that Aunt Crystal was able to do all she set out to, she was given the chance to be an influence for a long time. Our primary teacher's time was much shorter and even though he did influence many many people, it is hard for me not to think of all that he could have done if he was able to live until he was 94.

Wise words from the Kung Foo Panda movie..lol..."Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." It is so true. Enjoy and love all you can today because we don't know how many tomorrows we will be around for.