She was the daughter of Joseph Albert McCue and Ada E. 'Addie' Smiley. She married Arthur Douglas Blake at St. Clairsville, Ohio, on September 25, 1920.
_______________________________________
Edna Blake's 108-year-old feet stop dancing
Thought to be Oregon's oldest person, the adventuresome woman died of complications from falls
Edna Mildred McCue Blake, celebrated in recent years as perhaps Oregon's oldest resident, is dead at age 108. She was an avid dancer, reader and general adventurer, according to her daughter, Lin Gronvold, herself 80. Mrs. Blake still rode horses into her mid-80s.
"She loved to go to two or three dances a week," Gronvold said. "I had to put my foot down when she was 100. She was taking two buses to get to the dances, and two buses to get home. I took her after that."
A funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Laurelhurst Presbyterian Church, where Mrs. Blake had been a member for 50 years. "She was one of their oldest members, in terms of age and years of membership," Gronvold said. Committal will be at 3 p.m. at Riverview Abbey.
Mrs. Blake died Sept. 4, 2002, of complications from several falls dating back to July. She was born Edna Mildred McCue on Feb. 9, 1894, in Columbus, Ohio. In 1920 she married Arthur Blake, a rancher in Martins Ferry, Ohio. They moved to the Portland area in 1948, and he died in 1968.
She is survived by two daughters, Gronvold and Eva Walters; one grandchild; three great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
"I couldn't drag enough large-print books home for her," Gronvold said. "She kept the Beaverton library busy finding books. And she remembered -- and critiqued -- what she read. I had to keep a catalog of what she read. Once she told me she had read one of the books previously. I checked, and she had -- five years earlier.
Gronvold, who laughed that "I need oxygen if I get two steps off the ground," said she found her mother -- then almost 90 -- on the roof one day, cleaning gutter downspouts. "Her explanation was that she had to get up there, right to the edge, to do the job. She cleaned all nine downspouts, then scurried down the little ladder.
"She was game for anything. I remember one river rafting trip where we opted not to go over a really rough stretch, and she was mad," Gronvold said. "And she was very alert. She could remember dates, places and people so well that I used her for my memory."
Mrs. Blake was an avid fan of Lawrence Welk reruns and "Wheel of Fortune" on television. She usually had the answers first, Gronvold said, and she was livid when her show was pre-empted by a ball game.
"An awful lot of people in the community are going to miss her," Gronvold said.
[The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, Sunday, September 8, 2002, page B7]
_______________________________________
Edna Blake's 108-year-old feet stop dancing
Thought to be Oregon's oldest person, the adventuresome woman died of complications from falls
Edna Mildred McCue Blake, celebrated in recent years as perhaps Oregon's oldest resident, is dead at age 108. She was an avid dancer, reader and general adventurer, according to her daughter, Lin Gronvold, herself 80. Mrs. Blake still rode horses into her mid-80s.
"She loved to go to two or three dances a week," Gronvold said. "I had to put my foot down when she was 100. She was taking two buses to get to the dances, and two buses to get home. I took her after that."
A funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Laurelhurst Presbyterian Church, where Mrs. Blake had been a member for 50 years. "She was one of their oldest members, in terms of age and years of membership," Gronvold said. Committal will be at 3 p.m. at Riverview Abbey.
Mrs. Blake died Sept. 4, 2002, of complications from several falls dating back to July. She was born Edna Mildred McCue on Feb. 9, 1894, in Columbus, Ohio. In 1920 she married Arthur Blake, a rancher in Martins Ferry, Ohio. They moved to the Portland area in 1948, and he died in 1968.
She is survived by two daughters, Gronvold and Eva Walters; one grandchild; three great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
"I couldn't drag enough large-print books home for her," Gronvold said. "She kept the Beaverton library busy finding books. And she remembered -- and critiqued -- what she read. I had to keep a catalog of what she read. Once she told me she had read one of the books previously. I checked, and she had -- five years earlier.
Gronvold, who laughed that "I need oxygen if I get two steps off the ground," said she found her mother -- then almost 90 -- on the roof one day, cleaning gutter downspouts. "Her explanation was that she had to get up there, right to the edge, to do the job. She cleaned all nine downspouts, then scurried down the little ladder.
"She was game for anything. I remember one river rafting trip where we opted not to go over a really rough stretch, and she was mad," Gronvold said. "And she was very alert. She could remember dates, places and people so well that I used her for my memory."
Mrs. Blake was an avid fan of Lawrence Welk reruns and "Wheel of Fortune" on television. She usually had the answers first, Gronvold said, and she was livid when her show was pre-empted by a ball game.
"An awful lot of people in the community are going to miss her," Gronvold said.
[The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, Sunday, September 8, 2002, page B7]
She was the daughter of Joseph Albert McCue and Ada E. 'Addie' Smiley. She married Arthur Douglas Blake at St. Clairsville, Ohio, on September 25, 1920.
_______________________________________
Edna Blake's 108-year-old feet stop dancing
Thought to be Oregon's oldest person, the adventuresome woman died of complications from falls
Edna Mildred McCue Blake, celebrated in recent years as perhaps Oregon's oldest resident, is dead at age 108. She was an avid dancer, reader and general adventurer, according to her daughter, Lin Gronvold, herself 80. Mrs. Blake still rode horses into her mid-80s.
"She loved to go to two or three dances a week," Gronvold said. "I had to put my foot down when she was 100. She was taking two buses to get to the dances, and two buses to get home. I took her after that."
A funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Laurelhurst Presbyterian Church, where Mrs. Blake had been a member for 50 years. "She was one of their oldest members, in terms of age and years of membership," Gronvold said. Committal will be at 3 p.m. at Riverview Abbey.
Mrs. Blake died Sept. 4, 2002, of complications from several falls dating back to July. She was born Edna Mildred McCue on Feb. 9, 1894, in Columbus, Ohio. In 1920 she married Arthur Blake, a rancher in Martins Ferry, Ohio. They moved to the Portland area in 1948, and he died in 1968.
She is survived by two daughters, Gronvold and Eva Walters; one grandchild; three great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
"I couldn't drag enough large-print books home for her," Gronvold said. "She kept the Beaverton library busy finding books. And she remembered -- and critiqued -- what she read. I had to keep a catalog of what she read. Once she told me she had read one of the books previously. I checked, and she had -- five years earlier.
Gronvold, who laughed that "I need oxygen if I get two steps off the ground," said she found her mother -- then almost 90 -- on the roof one day, cleaning gutter downspouts. "Her explanation was that she had to get up there, right to the edge, to do the job. She cleaned all nine downspouts, then scurried down the little ladder.
"She was game for anything. I remember one river rafting trip where we opted not to go over a really rough stretch, and she was mad," Gronvold said. "And she was very alert. She could remember dates, places and people so well that I used her for my memory."
Mrs. Blake was an avid fan of Lawrence Welk reruns and "Wheel of Fortune" on television. She usually had the answers first, Gronvold said, and she was livid when her show was pre-empted by a ball game.
"An awful lot of people in the community are going to miss her," Gronvold said.
[The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, Sunday, September 8, 2002, page B7]
_______________________________________
Edna Blake's 108-year-old feet stop dancing
Thought to be Oregon's oldest person, the adventuresome woman died of complications from falls
Edna Mildred McCue Blake, celebrated in recent years as perhaps Oregon's oldest resident, is dead at age 108. She was an avid dancer, reader and general adventurer, according to her daughter, Lin Gronvold, herself 80. Mrs. Blake still rode horses into her mid-80s.
"She loved to go to two or three dances a week," Gronvold said. "I had to put my foot down when she was 100. She was taking two buses to get to the dances, and two buses to get home. I took her after that."
A funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Laurelhurst Presbyterian Church, where Mrs. Blake had been a member for 50 years. "She was one of their oldest members, in terms of age and years of membership," Gronvold said. Committal will be at 3 p.m. at Riverview Abbey.
Mrs. Blake died Sept. 4, 2002, of complications from several falls dating back to July. She was born Edna Mildred McCue on Feb. 9, 1894, in Columbus, Ohio. In 1920 she married Arthur Blake, a rancher in Martins Ferry, Ohio. They moved to the Portland area in 1948, and he died in 1968.
She is survived by two daughters, Gronvold and Eva Walters; one grandchild; three great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
"I couldn't drag enough large-print books home for her," Gronvold said. "She kept the Beaverton library busy finding books. And she remembered -- and critiqued -- what she read. I had to keep a catalog of what she read. Once she told me she had read one of the books previously. I checked, and she had -- five years earlier.
Gronvold, who laughed that "I need oxygen if I get two steps off the ground," said she found her mother -- then almost 90 -- on the roof one day, cleaning gutter downspouts. "Her explanation was that she had to get up there, right to the edge, to do the job. She cleaned all nine downspouts, then scurried down the little ladder.
"She was game for anything. I remember one river rafting trip where we opted not to go over a really rough stretch, and she was mad," Gronvold said. "And she was very alert. She could remember dates, places and people so well that I used her for my memory."
Mrs. Blake was an avid fan of Lawrence Welk reruns and "Wheel of Fortune" on television. She usually had the answers first, Gronvold said, and she was livid when her show was pre-empted by a ball game.
"An awful lot of people in the community are going to miss her," Gronvold said.
[The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, Sunday, September 8, 2002, page B7]
Family Members
Children
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
