Ellen E. Blanche, 95, died Monday, January 11, 2010 at St. Elizabeth Home in East Greenwich. She was the widow of Arthur P. Blanche. They had been married for 60 years before his death in 1995.
Born in Providence, the second of eight children, she was a daughter of the late Henry and Sadie (Armstrong) Eva. She had lived in Scituate since 1954 and had previously lived in Johnston and Warwick.
She was a devoted mother to Stephen Blanche and his wife Marilyn, of Warwick, Brian Blanche and his wife Karen, of St. Augustine, FL, Wendy Marchant and her husband John, of North Scituate, and Dawn Occhi and her husband Joseph, of Portsmouth. She was a loving grandmother to 11 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. She is survived by two sisters Olive Curtis of North Scituate and Eloise Roberto of Seminole, Florida. She was the sister of the late Harry, Russell and Warren Eva, Sadie Riggott and Dorothy Gilmore.
In her youth and during the Great Depression, she worked assembling jewelry at a local factory. After her marriage in 1935 she became a housewife and stay-at-home mom and devoted her entire life to loving and supporting her family. In her lifetime there were two world wars, a great depression, lost family members and lost businesses, but through it all she remained a steady secure light to those around her. As the terrible disease of Alzheimer’s began to take her from us, she remained loving and concerned for others.
Funeral service Friday at Noon in the ANDERSON-WINFIELD Funeral Home, Route 44 at Greenville Common, Greenville. Burial in Highland Park, Johnston. Visitation Thursday 4-7 pm. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to St. Elizabeth Home, 1 Saint Elizabeth Way, East Greenwich, RI 02818 where the elderly are treated with utmost care and respect.