Diana M Blaskowsky

Diana M. Blaskowsky, 99, of Montlake Terrace and former long-term Wenatchee area resident, passed away Friday, May 7, 2021. Diana is survived by her three children, three grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. Diana was born Rodeck in 1921 in Odessa, WA. Her family lived on a homestead a few miles west of town. She had 8 siblings, two from a previous marriage. Diana was the 6th of the 9 children. The family raised and sold vegetables to the local community. A dramatic and tragic event occurred in 1935 when she was 13 - her father was gored to death by a bull. This left her mother and older siblings to carry on. This was difficult as the environment for women without a husband in the 1930s was much different than today. But they persevered and as a family were all quite successful. She graduated from Odessa high school. On April 5, 1942 she married Ralph Blaskowsky just before he left for WWII. She had a son, Donald, while the war raged and when Ralph returned from the war, they moved to Wilbur, WA. There Ralph worked as a farm hand while Diana tended to raising the growing family. While there, they had two more children, a son David and a daughter Karen. They were very active in the local Grange and attended meetings every week. Around 1950 Ralph's back problems prompted a move to Spokane where he worked as a parts clerk for the Grange Supply for many years. In Spokane, they lived on North Lee Street in a small house on a generous lot and had a large garden, but always dreamed of having a farm. The house had an oil heater and a cooking stove fired by wood. Diana was quite proficient at cooking and baking on a wood fired stove. Many summer weekends were spent cutting, hauling and storing wood for use in cooking and heating on cold winter mornings. Eventually, Diana began working as a school cook for the Spokane school district. This worked well because she could be home for the children when they came home from school. The family was quite active in the Grange community and attended meetings at the Moran Prairie Grange. Both Diana and Ralph held offices in the local Grange at various times. The Grange also held family friendly dances on the first, third and fifth Saturday of the month which they attended with family in tow. In the summer the local Granges had a fast pitch softball league. Ralph, David and Don all played on the Moran Prairie Grange team and Diana and Karen were always on the sidelines rooting for the home team. In 1959 they were able to realize their dream of again living on a farm when they acquired a 10 acre farm on Moran Prairie on the road to what eventually became known as tower mountain. Diana was able to move her cooking job to Ferris high school where she became the head cook. Ferris was just down the road from their new farm. She was universally liked while working at Ferris. She retired from cooking and the school district in 1986 at age 65. On the farm, they had three big gardens where they raised all manner of fruits, vegetables, melons and berries. They also had milking cows and several acres of alfalfa. Diana also enjoyed walking in the surrounding forest. They enjoyed the farm immensely in part because it kept them very busy. Diana was a crack shot with a .22 when she caught birds eating at the berry vines. Winter was always a fun time. Both Ralph and Diana thoroughly enjoyed snow. Ralph built an inner tube slide area that became a favorite recreation spot for friends and family. Diana would make a big pot of chili and some cinnamon rolls for lunch and friends and family would have a great time inner tubing. Diana was an active participant as well. The local area would resound with laughter. In 1976 they decided to replace the original house with a factory-built house. The foundation of the original house was failing. The new house would be located in the same place as the old house, so they purchased a small travel trailer as a temporary home while the transition took place. For several months, they lived in this tiny trailer while the original house was demolished, a new foundation poured and a new manufactured home constructed, delivered and installed. Diana said several times this was a bit more challenging than she had imagined. Sometime around 1987, after Diana's grown family had all left and Ralph retired, they decided to move to Leavenworth, where Ralph had been raised. They acquired another small farm outside Leavenworth in Spromberg Canyon. This time they just raised a garden because they wanted more free time to travel and fish. Ralph again built an innertube slide and the two of them often went fishing in the local streams. They enjoyed having their grandchildren stay for a week or so in the summers. Grandma's peanut butter waffles for breakfast were a hit with the grandkids, much to the chagrin of their parents. Ralph had a gradually worsening bipolar disorder and eventually, around 1989, Diana had to leave him for her own safety. She then moved into Garden Terrace in Wenatchee. At Garden Terrace Diana developed into a resourceful person in her own right. She volunteered at a local church, cutting and sewing quilt parts for their quilting group. She worked with Habitat for Humanity running estate sales. She loved to shovel the sidewalks around Garden Terrace when it snowed. She would get up at 5 am to go out to shovel the sidewalks. She was a Scrabble wizard and loved playing Scrabble with her children and grandchildren. She also loved to travel with her sister Georgina. They once travelled together to Israel on a tour of the Biblical lands. They would often travel by car to places just for a road trip. She also liked to play slot machines. She and her close buddy at Garden Terrace would go to Mill Bay Casino a couple times a month. Garden Terrace eventually put her on staff as a resident on-call handyman. She immensely enjoyed this role as it included knowing everyone in the building and helping people with all manner of things - from assisting when locked out to maintenance of their apartment. It was a month on, month off type job so it also allowed her to travel when not on duty. Eventually as arthritis curtailed her abilities and her eyesight worsened, she had to give up most of these activities. Eventually Garden Terrace wouldn't even allow her to shovel the sidewalks although the joke was she needed a snow plow on her walker. In 2017 she fell and was in the hospital for several days. Between her and her family it was agreed that she should move to an assisted living facility in the Seattle area where her sons lived so they could better be of assistance if needed. After a brief search, Vineyard Park at Mountlake Terrace was selected, and she moved into assisted living. There she settled in and lived the remaining 4 years of her life. She passed peacefully in the early morning on Friday, May 7. But even in death Diana continues to contribute. Around 2010, Diana signed up for the Willed Body program at the University of Washington, donating her body to the UofW for their medical research programs. When she passed on May 7, 2021 she was accepted by the Willed Body program. They transported her body to the UofW where she will contribute to training new doctors and expanding medical knowledge. After a year or so, her remains will be cremated and the ashes returned to her surviving children for final dispensation. Only one of her siblings, George Rodeck, is still alive. He lives in Odessa, WA. Diana had a long and interesting life. Her overriding character trait was an optimistic and positive outlook on life. She was above all a supporter - she loved helping where she could even if it was only with a kind word. She will be greatly missed by all that knew the welcoming smile, the mischievous twinkle in her eye, and the caring she showed to everyone. Chapel of the Valley, East Wenatchee is assisting with arrangements. Please do not send flowers. If you feel inclined to donate a remembrance in her behalf, contribute to planting a tree or to Habitat for Humanity. She thought highly of the work of H for H.