Barbara Jeanne Blair Obituary (1934

Last Sunday, Barbara Jeanne Blair, loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away at the age of 86 in her home in Provo, Utah surrounded by her family. Jeanne was born in Santa Monica, California to John and Roberta Maxfield. Along with her younger brother John, she loved growing up in Southern California and the center of her high school fun was the back yard pool built by her dad. On June 28, 1952 she married William (Bill) Blair and they became the parents of three children Sandra, Patricia and Michael. Bill began his career as a firefighter and their social life revolved around other fire fighters and their families. This included square dancing, pool parties, water skiing and weekend getaways. Jeanne loved the outdoors and family vacations to Carpentaria Beach in California and Estero Beach in Mexico were favorites! Mexico vacations featured lobster and taco eating, souvenir shopping, horseback riding on the beach, swimming, fishing and playing car. Jeanne was a leader of a bluebird and later Campfire girl troop and loved doing crafts, projects and camping with the girls. One highlight was a primitive week long back pack trip through the California High Sierras. Jeanne was active in politics and most of her backyard pool time with the kids included her reading and studying political matters. It was her interest in politics that eventually connected her with a friend that introduced her to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints. She and the girls were baptized and were later joined by Mike when he turned 8. Bill was a harder sell and Jeanne spent many years trying to persuade him to join her. He was baptized in December of 1977 and they were sealed in the Los Angeles Temple June of 1979. Jeanne had many hobbies. She sewed Halloween costumes, crafts and nearly every dress her daughters wore. She also took up cake decorating and was employed for a time by Baskin and Robbins decorating ice cream cakes in their freezer. She made and decorated all 3 of her children’s wedding cakes. Jeanne was a patriot and she loved to celebrate the 4th of July with parade attendance and throwing a backyard party. She had strong political opinions and never hesitated to speak her mind. Her favorite President was Ronald Reagan and she was thrilled to be able to attend his Presidential inauguration. Bill and Jeanne moved to Chicago when Bill was hired to run the Chicago Fire Department in the early 80’s. They had many fun adventures as Bill served as a city official. As Bill and Jeanne looked at where to move as his career wound down, they chose Provo, Utah with the hopes that their children and grandchildren would attend school in Provo and come for visits. Bill took the position as Provo Fire Department Chief and they settled on Dover Lane. One of the joys of Jeanne’s life was having several of her grandchildren and their spouses and children live in her basement over the years. One of the wonderful great adventures of Bill and Jeanne was their mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to South Africa. They loved the humble people and joyed in working with many local young missionaries. For Bill’s 70th birthday, some of the children and grandchildren traveled to South Africa to surprise him. It was a highlight of their lives. One of Jeanne’s hobbies was collecting nativities. She joyed in holding a couple of nights each Christmas season that friends and neighbors could come view her collection of over 300 nativity sets. Jeanne had a strong testimony of her Savior Jesus Christ and loved studying the scriptures. She very much missed being able to attend church regularly during COVID-19. Another highlight of the Christmas season and one she enjoyed until her passing, was watching Hallmark Christmas movies with her good friend Lori. Jeanne was preceded in death by her husband, Bill; parents, Bobby and Jack; son, Billy and grandson, Luke. She is survived by her brother, John (Liz); children: Sandee (Warren), Pattie (Kevin) and Mike (Barri); Sandee’s children: Sean, Chris, Kelly, Tim and Kaitlyn; Pattie’s children: Justin, Ryan, Mathew, Melonie, Tiffani, Jennifer and Jessica, and Mike’s children: Brian, Jeffrey and Kailey. Jeanne was delighted with her mountain of great grandchildren and is survived by: Capri and Duke Spencer, Emilia Pacada; Noah, Logan, Brandon, Tiffany and Roman Stephenson; Anabel, Aubrey, Izaac, Jacob, Caleb, Kelcie, Kristen, Lucy, Violet, Vivan, Rulon, Rachel, Bella and Maura Brox; Josiah, Rebekah, Jonathon and Jethro Graff; Jack and Xander Tolman; and Juniper, Oliver, Rowan, Charles and Evelyn Hall. She has 2 more great grandchildren on the way. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, November 28, 2020 at the Foothill Ward building, 345 East 4525 North, Provo, Utah. The viewing will be from 10-10:45 a.m. prior to services. Interment will be in Eastlawn Memorial Hills. The meeting can also be joined by zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86992923601?pwd=bVBlZmZUL3ljSDI5S1lrQjlmNXIyZz09 Meeting ID: 869 9292 3601 Passcode: 618946 Condolences can be shared at www.bergmortuary.com and flowers sent to Berg Mortuary 185 East Center Street, Provo UT 84606. Donations in lieu of flowers to https://ourrescue.org to aid in the fight against human trafficking.