Darlene Blackburn Obituary (1937 - 2023)

Darlene Fay Blackburn Born December 13, 1937 - Deceased September 22, 2023 A Letter to Heaven Written by granddaughter Tiffani Blackburn at 12 years of age and edited by her uncle Keith. Grandma Darlene Blackburn loved to talk and was a very sweet person. When I was a little girl in Utah, I used to visit my grandma all the time and listen to all the stories she told my family and me, although sometimes I didn’t understand what she meant. When that happened occasionally, I would get bored and start bothering my parents, trying to tell them that I was bored. I haven’t seen her as often lately because my sister, my mom, and my dad moved to California at the end of 2005 because of my dad’s work. I think that the best part of our visits with her were the ice cream with the chocolate syrup that she had at her house. Whenever I went to Utah and visited her, she spoiled me with something, sometimes it was even better than ice cream. Last time I visited my grandma, she made me a crocheted multicolored blanket. It had all sorts of colors: yellow, blue, green, purple, you name it! Grandma Darlene was born on a cold winter day on December 13th, 1937, in a small little farming town called Banida, just outside of Preston Idaho. Grandma was born in the same house, and the same bed as her mother Lasca Baxter was 19 years earlier. She was born breech, meaning that her feet were down and first to see this world, but the price of that was that the doctor had to break her leg to get her out. I guess you could say that she landed on one foot. She always said that one leg was a little longer, but really, it wasn’t very noticeable. Grandma has three brothers and a cousin named Judy, that was like a sister to her that grew up with the family. Her brothers' names are Don, Danny, and Randy, with Don and Randy preceding her in death. She was the oldest child in the family. Her mother's name was Lasca Baxter, and her father was Lawrence Clay Nester, Quis Johnson was her other father, and was a wonderful man, all three preceded her in death. Her mom, dad, brothers, cousin, were not all of the family, she also had a dog named Pudgy and a Cocker Spaniel named Mickey. She loved to play hide and seek, loved to make paper doll clothes that were pink and grey in a checkered pattern, she loved to read Cinderella. While she did have time for play, she helped to do chores as well, and on Saturdays, she would take all the houseplants outside to water them. She helped to clean the bathroom, mop the floors, and help to dust the only three rooms that existed in their house. Even though there were a lot of chores, all of the children got to look forward to going to the movies after they were done, but if they didn’t finish all of their chores, then they didn’t get to go to the movies. She loved music, and as she became a teenager, she loved to teach the Bop to her girlfriends, and dance with the boys. When my grandmother got a little older, she had more responsibilities. She had to do the wash and hang the clothes on the line, iron, do dishes, and even do a little bit of woodwork polishing the floors. Grandma loved to sing the Four-Leaf Clover song at school in front of her class. She also visited her grandpa occasionally. Her grandpa had a horse that she really loved to ride. While in school, she moved from place to place every year. In the 9th grade, she lived in Idaho, while in the 10th grade, she moved to California, that’s where she learned the Bop, and in the 11th grade, she spent some time going to Cyprus high school in Utah. Her three favorite vacations were when she went camping in the canyons, when she went to the beach in California, and the time when she went to the Russian River and walked across it with a bamboo pole. My grandmother finally met my grandpa Frank Oldham Blackburn on a blind date at a Cyprus high school football game. A blind date is where somebody else sets up a date for you, and you don’t know who that person is. That’s when she decided to get married. The married couple initially lived in Magna Utah for a short number of years, then later they made their home in Murray Utah near the Wheeler farm. Grandma and grandpa had five children. Two of the children are boys, and three are girls. Their names are David, Rhonda, Keith, Linda, and Laura. Her first job was to help make the small needles that were used to stick in people’s arms so medicine could get into their bloodstream. After she raised her kids, she became a UTA bus driver for about fourteen years, then before she knew it, she was enjoying all her children’s high school graduations, and with that, my dad then going on a Mormon mission. Eventually, all her children got married. My dad married my mom, and my grandma loved going to their wedding. Later she spent 10 years working for the LDS church in the mail room, where she retired in 2007 from her full-time job. Currently, grandma Darlene has 19 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren. My grandma loved me, as well as all her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. We were her treasures, as well she is mine. With Love, Tiffani Darlene Blackburn passed away on September 22, 2023, she was a good mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a thoughtful caring friend, who now lives with her family in the presence of God. Darlene is survived by her brother Dan Nester and all of her children, David and (Cyndee) Blackburn, Rhonda and (Brian) Nichols, Keith and (Eiddy) Blackburn, Linda and (Steve) Ferguson, Laura Blackburn. A special thanks to Steve and Linda Ferguson, with Keith Blackburn for being there, also Nicole, Karla, Dani, Mahee, and Jennifer at Canyon Hospice for their loving care. In lieu of donations, please just spend some time with the elderly. Funeral services will be held at Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary, 4760 S State, Murray, Utah 84107. Friday September 29th, viewing (6:00 - 8:00) pm. Saturday September 30th, viewing (10:30 - 11:30) am. Graveside Service September 30th, (12:00) pm Murray City Cemetery.