Blanch Wadman

Blanch Annabel Alexander Wadman passed away peacefully on Monday, March 20. She was 99 years young. Born April 15, 1917 to Roy and Valura Alexander of Roy, MT, she lived in Montana her entire life. After her father died in the flu epidemic of 1918, her mother moved from town to town, working and raising Blanch and Lula, Blanch’s only sibling to survive infancy.

Blanch met the love of her life Ted Wadman while living in Winnett, Montana. They married on Aug. 17, 1935. Work was scarce during the depression, so after a few years and two children, the family moved to Cut Bank, Montana where Ted took a job in the oil fields. Blanch had a third child and stayed busy raising Doug, Mary, and Bill. They lived on an oil lease for a number of years, moving into town shortly before Ted retired. Never one to be idle, Blanch worked part time at Hardware Hank as a clerk. She loved to garden, making homemade breads and jams and her dill pickles were legendary. She never learned to drive and walked everywhere. Her daily walks cemented her as a fixture in her neighborhood.

Ted and Blanch were married for 52 years before Ted passed away. After his death, Blanch remained in their home, helping to raise her grandchildren, teaching them to crochet, needlepoint, and how to play cards. Her grandkids knew Grandma had an iron will behind her quiet nature. Once she made up her mind on something, there was no budging her. They also knew they would never beat her at cribbage or rummy, but it was fun to try. At 96, she decided she didn’t want to live alone anymore and moved to the Golden Eagle Plaza in Great Falls.

Blanch is survived by her three children, Doug (Mary) Wadman of Big Arm, Montana, Mary  Fagan of Powell, Wyoming, and Bill (Linda) of Great Falls, Montana, her grandchildren Grant (Catherine), Mariel (Greg), Tammie (Mike), Kathy (Bob), Pudge (Tina), Valora (Mark), Vanessa (Geof), Will, Wyatt, and special neighbors Danny and Peggy Nygard.  She was blessed with 16 great-grandchildren and 25 great-great grandchildren with one more in a few weeks. She was preceded in death by her parents Roy and Valura, husband Ted, sisters Lula, Josephine, and Esther, brother Thomas, granddaughter Willow, and son-in law Don.

Services will be at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Cut Bank on Saturday, March 25 at 2 pm followed by burial at the Crown Hill Cemetery. Please direct any memorials to the American Cancer Society or to the Benefis Peace Hospice of Montana for their superb and loving care of Blanch.