Obituary for Lillian “Frances” Blake
Ponca City Now - August 16, 2016 12:00 am
Lillian "Frances" Blake
December 29, 1924 – August 14, 2016
Frances Blake – Obituary
After a short illness, Frances Blake, with her sons at her bedside, passed from this earth on August 14, 2016 at Via Christi Village, Ponca City OK. She was 91 years of age.
Lillian Frances Blake was born December 29, 1924 in Delaware, Nowata County, Oklahoma to John Ardallas Daugherty and Izella DeLozier Daugherty. She had three sisters, two older, Mic and Louise, and one younger, Mary.
As a young child her family lived in Chelsea, OK, then Kaw City, OK and then Little Chief (Fairfax) Oklahoma where she lived from the age of about 9 years old through her high school years.
On July 27, 1942 Frances married John Patrick Blake of Shidler, Oklahoma and made their home there until the following summer when Pat was called into World War II. He enlisted in the Navy, and left for boot camp on July 15, 1943, just 12 days after their first son, Jim D. Blake was born. With her newborn son, Frances moved home to parent's house in Burkburnett, TX to wait out Pat's time in the war. They only lived there a year before moving to Worthington, MN, including her younger sister, Mary.
Pat was gone for 2-1/2 years but made it home safely in December 1945. Frances was waiting for him with the son he had only seen in pictures and heard about in letters. They made their home in Minnesota for only one year before Pat wanted to get back to the Osage and to his beloved Shidler, Oklahoma. So, in June 1946 they made their home in Shidler, OK and never left it again. This was home!
Their second son, John Steven Blake arrived on February 6, 1950 and both he and big brother, Jim attended school in Shidler and both became graduates of Oklahoma State University.
Frances was a ''stay at home mom'' and her daughter-in-law, Paula, affectionately called her ''Mrs. Clever'' because she was such a good housekeeper and cook.
She was a member of the Twentieth Century Club and, also, the volunteer librarian at the Shidler Public Library for approximately 10 years between 1962 and 1972. Reading was a life-long hobby, especially biographies and auto-biographies of famous people.
On March 27, 1971, her husband of 29 years, passed away suddenly of a heartache at the young age of 46. Her oldest son, Jim, was living and working in Dallas, TX and her youngest son, Steve, was a junior at OSU. She was alone and had never worked and wondered what life had in store for her.
In the fall of 1972 a friend talked her into applying to be a house mother at OSU. This was something she thought maybe she could do! So, she completed the paperwork and made sure they knew she only wanted a fraternity because she had raised two boys and said she ''didn't know a thing about girls''. After two interviews with Kappa Sigma Fraternity she received the phone call inviting her to be ''Mom Blake''!
She began her time at Kappa Sigma Fraternity in January 1973 and retired 27 years later at the end of the spring semester, May of 2000. At that time she held the record as the house mother with the longest tenure on campus and the longest tenure of any Kappa Sigma Fraternity in the United States.
In retirement she returned to her home in Shidler, Oklahoma where she once again enjoyed keeping house and working at the local library, but this time as a paid, part-time employee under a government program for training senior citizens. She enjoyed this for about 6 years, until they decided she was ''trained enough''. She also enjoyed visits from her family of 2 sons, their wives, 6 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren!
Frances enjoyed her home and lived there until September 2015, when she entered Via Christi Village, a nursing home in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Frances was preceded in death by her husband, Pat Blake, her parents and three sisters, Mic Stephenson, Louise Atteberry and Mary Rousey.
She is survived by two sons: Jim Blake and his wife Paula of Ponca City, Steve Blake and his wife Vivian of Lafayette, LA, six grandchildren, Stacy Blake of Norman, OK, Jeff Blake and wife Julie of Tomball, TX, Steven Blake and wife Tiffany of Edmond, OK, Karen Dunham and her husband Greg of Richardson, TX, Patrick Blake and his wife Brittney of Youngsville, LA and Rachel Theriot and her husband Michael of Lafayette, LA, and 10 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers: Steven Blake, Jeff Blake, Patrick Blake, Greg Dunham, Michael Theriot and Collin Blake
Honorary pallbearers: The men of Kappa Sigma Fraternity of Oklahoma State University
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in her honor to The Shidler School Foundation, 217 S. Magnolia Ave., Newkirk, OK 74647 or online at www.donationplanet.org/charity/shidler-schools-foundation-inc.
Celebration of Life Services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, August 19, 2016 at the United Methodist Church in Shidler, Oklahoma with the Pastor Doug Scott officiating under the direction of the Grace Memorial Chapel.
Visitation hours will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, August 18, 2016 with the family receiving friends from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Grace Memorial Chapel. Friends may leave online condolences at www.gracememorialchapel.net.