Blanche MacDonald Whalen

December 18, 1926 - January 19, 2015

12/18/1926 - 01/19/2015

Blanche MacDonald Whalen

Blanche passed away January 19, 2015,
surrounded by family. She was born December 18, 1926, in Marshfield, Vt.,
to Bess and Ernest MacDonald of Plainfield, Vt. Blanche
had been a resident of Tidewater since 1947. She always loved
her childhood retreat in Peacham Pond, Vt., which held so many
fond memories for her. Blanche loved the local Scottish Festivals, was an avid reader and enjoyed crossword puzzles, Solitaire, and her family, friends, and kitties.

Blanche is survived by her brother Harry McDonald of Vermont.
She is also survived by sons, Bernard Lee Whalen, Jr Glynda,
Douglas K. Whalen, Bruce M. Whalen Cheryl, John E. Whalen Judy,
her daughter Diane W. Lewison Terry and 8 grandchildren , 8 great
grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild.. She also leaves behind
special nieces, Cisi and Jodi and nephews R. Ernest “Took”, Jonathan
and Scott. She was predeceased by her parents and two brothers, Hugh McDonald and Robert McDonald.

There will be a memorial service Saturday, January 24, 2015 at
Altmeyer Funeral Home at 5792 Greenwich Rd. Va. Beach, Va. 23462
altmeyer.com
In lieu of flowers the family request donations be made to your
local SPCA or The American Cancer Society.

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Ernest McDonald
8 years ago

Another of the Greatest Generation passes from our midst but not our memory. Honest, outspoken, always thoughtful and accommodating she was as solid as the granite hills of her native state of Vermont. I’ll miss my favorite aunt but will never forget her and the kindness she accorded me.

Wesley Dunks
8 years ago

Diane and John, still have fond memories of your mom looking out for us kids when Emerson and I were over at your house. May your families be blessed with great memories of her.

Larissa
8 years ago

Grammie and Grampa lived in Plainfield and that is where Aunt Hep grew up, but Marshfield where the doctor practiced and was where Aunt Hep was born:

Will talk to you soon. All my love, Cisi

Mike Flynn
8 years ago

How often in the course of human relations is an in-law Aunt one of your forever favorite people? Somewhere between slim and none? Not so with Aunt Hep and I looked forward to those trips to Virginia Beach and whipping up a Margarita for Hep shortly after our arrival. I will miss her and her sense of humor greatly!

Betsi Winfree
8 years ago

I have many memories of Blanche. She was one of my mother’s closest friends for many years.Kitty Cowan I loved her and her wonderful humor! My deepest sympathies to all the family. She was a lovely lady!

kelly whalen-diaz
8 years ago

i’ll miss u and sorry i didn’t know u better.

kelly whalen-diaz
8 years ago

Ill miss the talks we started having upon me going up to Alaska which aloud us to talk about snow and cold weather and hear about Vermont. I tend to forget they lived in a winter climate.

She lived to welcome a 27weeker premature baby into the world. See grow healthy.

Susan
8 years ago

Lee, Doug, Bruce, John and Diane,

How I hear Blanche’s voice in my head. She had quite the sense of humor. We all had such fun times together during the summer months in Vermont with our folks either playing in our pool or on Peacham Pond.

Now our moms are reconnecting on the other side. I am sure they are having a great chat with Uncle Phil.

Thinking of you all during this time.

Joe Riddick
8 years ago

The Board of Directors at Cypress Point Commons would like to offer their sincere thoughts and prayers to Blanche’s family and friends at this very difficult time.

Diane Whalen Lewison
8 years ago

Thinking of Moma, I know it wasn’t easy on her raising five kids, especially since she didn’t start driving until she was about 45.

When I was very little, I remember her rocking me and singing me lullabys, especially when I was sick.

Moma was very clever when it came to nap time. She would have each of us kids massage a different part of her, before settling down to sleep.

I imagine it was quite a task at Christmas time, shopping for all the presents and needing to wrap everything on the sly. My brothers and I were always up while it was still dark, so excited about the day.

Moma taught each of us to be honest and to care about other people. Integrity was very important to her.

When she first came to visit me in CA in 1978, I had to drag her to get her to go out, but once out, she was so good with people. One night I took her to the Marriot, which was one of the hot spots in Newport Beach at the time. Jack asked her to dance, and they danced so beautifully, most people stopped dancing and just watched.

During one visit, I took her to Sequoia and then on to Yosemite. There was a blizzard and we got snowed in for a few days at Sequoia. When we got to Yosemite all the trails were covered in snow. She and I hiked for miles each day despite the snow, which I thought was pretty remarkable given she was about 60 at the time. Even at 79 she hiked in the Monterey mountains and along the coast with Terry and me. She had such great energy most of her life.

When Terry and I still lived in Santa Barbara, we took her over to the Channell Islands along with some of our other friends in an Express Cruiser. The seas were pretty rough on the way back; everyone was impressed by what a trooper she was.

In recent years Moma was so proud of her various grandchildren and great grandchildren, but she had really been missing her folks and some other people that had passed on. I hope they are all together celebrating being reunited. I will miss being able to call Moma. We talked most days. I hope now that she is on the other side, she knows how much we all loved her. I hope she is enveloped by His love, happy and at peace. I know she will be loved and missed by those of us she left behind.