Blanche E. Courtney, 89, of Passavant Retirement Community in Zelienople, formerly of Cranberry Township and Penn-Mar Plaza in Mars, died Tuesday, July 27, 2010, in Zelienople. Born May 5, 1921, in Pittsburgh, she was the daughter of the late William and Madeline Yocum McIntosh. Mrs. Courtney was a 1942 graduate of the Bellevue Suburban Hospital School of Nursing, where she was the class valedictorian. During World War II, she served in the United States Cadet Nurse Corps. She was a staff nurse, charge nurse, assistant director of nursing and acting director of nursing at the Passavant Retirement Community before retiring in 1984, after 20 years of service. Mrs. Courtney was a longtime member of the Plains Presbyterian Church in Cranberry Township, where she was a past president of the Missionary Society of the church. Surviving are three daughters, Madeline L. Mincer, of Brooklyn, N.Y., Betty J. Mincer (James Wittine), of Wilmington, Del., and Bonnie Stachowiak, of Freedom; three stepdaughters, Wanda (Ronald) Rice, of Evans City, Geraldine (William) Purto and Laura (Richard) Piggott, both of Lakewood, Colo.; and two stepsons, Melvin (Joyce) Courtney, of Apollo, and Samuel (Carol) Courtney, of Lyndora; also 16 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Raymond W. Mincer; and her second husband, Paul G. Courtney. Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the MCDONALD-AEBERLI FUNERAL HOME INC., 238 Crowe Ave., Mars. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the Plains Presbyterian Church, 326 Plains Church Road, Cranberry Township, PA 16066, with the Rev. Ed Heller, pastor, officiating. Everyone is asked to please meet at the church. Burial will be in the Church Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Plains Presbyterian Church or the Mars Senior Center, PO Box 868, Mars, PA 16046. Tribune-Review 7/29/2010