Blanch Mae (Havlik) Mason passed away early Wednesday  morning (February 6, 2019) at age 95.

Farm kid, student, employee, WWII veteran, Wife, Mother, Friend, and Child of God.

Late April snowstorms are rare in the White Lake area but two are significant. The one on April 19, 1923 coincided with Blanch's birth to Bohemian immigrant farmers Thomas and Agnes (Melka) Havlik . And the snow on April 19, 2018 marked Blanch's final birthday.  In between those two meteorological portents was a life well lived.

Blanch was the sixth of seven children born, in Fruitland Township, to the Havliks, who had recently sold their Crystal Lake farm and soon after her birth bought 20 acres within Whitehall city limits.  Although they were only about 8 blocks from the Whitehall school, built in 1878, they were considered country kids.  Along with her six siblings Blanch worked with her parents on the farm.  In school she enjoyed drama, glee club and band with performances that included holiday parades and the Hart Fair. A Depression era program gave her a part-time job as school librarian.

After graduating from Whitehall High School in 1941, Blanch worked at Leonard and Edna's grocery store. When Pearl Harbor was attacked she was attending Davenport Business College in Grand Rapids.  She then went to work at Norge, a defense contractor in Muskegon, but the uncertain commute caused Blanch to land a job closer to home with the Ration Board in Whitehall.  Blanch wanted to experience the larger world, so when that office was merged with the larger Muskegon office, she joined the SPARS, the women's branch of the Coast Guard.  After basic training in Palm Beach Florida she was assigned to the Coast Guard operations in Philadelphia eventually reaching Yeoman 1 ^st Class.

A talented artist, Blanch was never without a sketchbook. Her work ranged from doodles on napkins to landscape paintings to hand-drawn birthday cards for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and everything in between. She attended art school in Chicago for a time after the war before returning to the hometown she loved.

After the war, along with many others, she returned home and enjoyed the White Lake area social scene, including dancing at the Franklin House and at the local Tannery gym.  During this time the small town girl met the love of her life, Jim Mason, also a WWII vet and son of a historic Montague family that traced its local history back to the Dalton brothers who built the second saw mill in the White Lake area in the 1840s.  Blanch and Jim were married in 1949 and raised a family of seven children on the old family farm location (no longer considered country, they raised city kids).

Blanch loved to travel and to learn about the world. With seven children and a small travel trailer, she and Jim drove across the country and Canada on annual summer vacations. With the children grown, they continued their road trips. After Jim retired, they spent the winters visiting family and friends in warmer parts of the country, including extended visits with children in Texas and California. Most memorable for Blanch was a trip to the Czech Republic with her sister Dolly in 1998. There they found new cousins and despite language barriers they successfully rebuilt long lost family relationships.

Blanch was the last survivor among her siblings.  She was preceded in death by brothers Tom, Tony and Frank (Art) and sisters Vera Fishel, Lucy Triska and Dolly Hamlin.  Also preceding her in death are her husband James E. Mason, Sr. (1991) and sons James E. Mason, Jr. (1974) and Donald Mason (2017). Surviving children are: Mary Lynn Mason (Jim Barton), and Peggy Mason (Don Plumton), both of Dallas, Texas; Jack (Pam) Mason, of Montgomery Texas; Kevin (Marcia) Mason of Holland, Michigan: and Jeffrey Mason of Whitehall.  She also leaves behind 11 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren, Nettie, Eldon and Lou, who brought new joy to her last years.

After the death of her son Jim in 1974 Blanch went through severe grief and depression and credited accepting Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior as being the only thing that pulled her out.  This life-changing event gave her a new, dynamic relationship with God and she never was the same.  Her depression and grief fled as she now had the peace that passes all understanding.  She actively pursued a closer relationship with God for the rest of her life.

Her long life and her love of not just her own family but the absolute devotion to her nieces and nephews led her to be the matriarch of a very large family.   She became the second mom for many.

We all will miss her constant presence in our lives, even from a distance, especially her weekly emailed letters (started as typed and mailed letters when oldest daughter Mary Lynn went to MSU in 1967 and concluding with her Feb 1 post), her Facebook comments on the Whitehall and White Lake History pages, her letters to the editor, her participation in the Memorial Day parades, her beautiful gardens, showing off her muscles (arm wrestling anyone?), doing jigsaw puzzles, her love of and enthusiastic playing of music, and her unconditional love.  And so much more.

Indeed a life well lived.

A memorial service will be conducted Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 12:00 PM at White Lake Congregational United Church of Christ, with Pastor Donna Morton officiating. The family will receive guests 1 hour prior to the start of the service.

Beacon Cremation & Funeral Service-White Lake Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

www.beaconfh.com