Blanche Guerin Rockwell died early in the morning of March 30, 2023, at her home in Grangeville.
She was born to Blanche and James Guerin on April 11, 1926, in Chicago, three years before the Great Depression. She was educated in schools of the Sacred Heart, near Chicago, and then, when the family moved to California after World War II, in San Francisco. She graduated from San Francisco College for Women (now University of San Francisco) in 1947, majoring in philosophy and psychology, which she chose as the best preparation for the career she desired, that of wife and mother.
She married John E. Rockwell Jr. on June 24, 1949, while he was completing his residency as an M.D. at St. Mary’s Hospital, San Francisco. They lived in Salinas, Calif., and then John took the job of company doctor for Bradley Mining Company in Stibnite, Idaho. There they learned of Grangeville. After a time of moving around with the U.S. Air Force they started their life in Grangeville.
They have eight children, Carol (Samuel Yalbuw), John III, Elizabeth (George Brown), Joe (Tracey), Peter (Jennifer), James, Patrick (Jane) and Mary (Kevin Bacon), and by now there are 25 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. In her memoirs Blanche says, “My family was what I DID—my Life.”
Blanche played many roles in Sts. Peter and Paul School and Sts. Peter and Paul Church, serving on the home and school board and in the altar society; teaching catechism to both children and adults, liturgical reading and being an extraordinary minister of the eucharist, and helping with church celebrations and events. For years she arranged fresh flowers weekly in the church and led the care of the liturgical environment. She and her husband also supported St. Gertrude’s Academy, in Cottonwood. She took part in Church Women United and similar groups.
Blanche loved beauty and nature, and translated them into art, which she taught her children and the neighbor children. She especially developed her talent as the children grew up, doing portraits and a variety of art forms, serving as art show judge and being featured artist in the Grangeville Spring Art Show.
She guided her children by reading to them and telling stories, singing, teaching them art and French, leading and helping with 4-H, Campfire and Boy Scouts, urging the children on in school projects and creative endeavors, and fostering self-discipline and the love of God. She and Dr. Rockwell took the family hiking, fishing and camping, and traveled each year to some new place in the United States. The two of them also traveled together and Blanche traveled by herself. At home, they enjoyed many good friends from the Grangeville area.
Blanche took part in such groups as the American Association of University Women, the hospital auxiliary, a home extension club and the community concert association. She worked for the Arrow L. Gallery and for the Grangeville Flower Shop. Blanche was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. John E. Rockwell Jr. (2012), her parents, her five brothers and sisters, Dr. Rockwell’s parents, and two of his brothers and their spouses. Surviving are all of their children and Dr. Rockwell’s sister and her husband, Mary Jane and Lowell Palm.
A public viewing will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Easter Sunday, April 9, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, April 10, at Blanche’s home, 400 Willow Rock Drive, Grangeville. A Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m., Monday, April 10, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Grangeville. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 11, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Grangeville. Interment will follow at Prairie View Cemetery. Blanche requested that we wear white, the color of glory. Blackmer Funeral Home of Grangeville is in charge of arrangements. Send condolences to the family at blackmerfuneralhome.com.
