Phyllis May Blakeslee passed peacefully to her heavenly home on April 13th, 2019, just two weeks shy of her 98th birthday. She lived a full and blessed life. Phyllis was predeceased by her husband of 46 years, Jerome A. Blakeslee Sr., of Brodheadsville. Phyllis's last years were spent in the care of the wonderful folks of the Easton Home, the Westminster Village, and St. Luke's Hospice.
Her surviving family includes daughter, Susan J. Borden and her husband Paul of Sulphur, LA, and three sons, Jerome A. Blakeslee and his wife Bonnie of Easton, Ross F. Blakeslee and his wife Valerie of Brodheadsville, and James S. Blakeslee and his wife Mary Louise of Lehighton. Phyllis was known as Nammy to her nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. To her numerous nieces and nephews she was known as Aunt Toots.
Phyllis was born in Arcola, IL on May 2, 1921, the fifth of six children of Ross and Edna Rusk. The family later moved to Urbana, IL where Phyllis graduated from Urbana High School and later attended the University of Illinois. She met the love of her life, Jerome, on a blind date in 1943. Jerome had left the family farm in Blakeslee to train as a fighter mechanic in the Army Air Corp at Chanute Field in nearby Rantoul, IL. They were married on September 17th, 1944 in Urbana while Jerome was home on leave from his duties in North Africa and Italy where he was a crew chief for the P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs of the 325th Fighter Group. At the end of WWII the couple moved to Monroe County to raise their family.
The family will receive friends wishing to celebrate Phyllis's life on Tuesday, April 16th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM from the Kresge Funeral Home, 1763 Route 209, Brodheadsville. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, April 17th at 11:00 AM at the funeral home followed be internment at Green Ridge Cemetery. Phyllis was a long time member of the St. Luke's Cherry Valley Methodist Church, and reception will immediately follow at the Cherry Valley Methodist Church educational building, 1238 Kemmertown Road, Stroudsburg, PA 18360.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Green Ridge Cemetery Association, c/o Bobbie Snyder, 109, Snyder Lane, Brodheadsville, PA 18322.
www.kresgefuneralhome.com