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Blanche L. Shipley Phillians was born 110 years ago today!

 Blanche Louise Shipley Phillians was born 110 years ago today in West Brownsville, Pa. 

She was one of three daughters born to Howard Francis and Annabelle Ferguson Shipley. She married George Harry Phillians on June 11, 1938, in Hagerstown, Md. and on March 17, 1945, she gave birth to my mother, Roberta Lee, their only child. She died on December 11, 1997, the day before her 86th birthday. 


Rumor has it she was the life of the party when she was younger and living in the booming town of Brownsville, Pa. She worked as a store clerk, rolled her own cigarettes, and baked a pretty good loaf of bread. She was a mix of superstition and anxiety and although obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) wasn’t a term back then, I’m sure she had it. In her adult years she worried and worried and then, for good measure, she worried some more.


Blanche Louise Shipley &
 her friend Ruth Ann

She absolutely adored my grandfather and spent her whole life making sure he was happy and well fed. When she made his dinner, it consisted of meat and potatoes, a vegetable, a tossed salad, pineapple or applesauce, and, of course, homemade bread and dessert. As a child of the Great Depression, she had a stockpile of canned goods in her pantry and she owned lots of empty butter tubs, along with bottles and bottles of sweetheart soap.


Although my mother was an only child; my grandparents went out of their way to make sure she wasn’t spoiled. They were strict and my mother kind of resented that.

But they weren’t strict with me, their first granddaughter. I remember spending a lot of time with Grandma Phillians at her home in Clarksville, Pa.: baking, cooking, and enjoying our time together. She couldn’t drive, so when I turned 16, I was her driver.  She loved to read the newspaper and when I worked as a reporter, she clipped my articles, saved some and sent others to relatives. She was my biggest fan!


When I was 14 years old, she bought a McCall’s pattern and taught me how to sew a Raggedy Ann doll. We embroidered the red and black face and the little “I love you” heart. We cut out the fabric, made the little legs and arms, stuffed the body, and sewed the red yarn loops of hair on her head. Then, we made her pantaloons, apron, and calico dress.

I don’t know what happened to that first doll. I think I gave it to one of my cousins for Christmas. Since then, I’ve made many dolls (101 actually) for my daughters, sisters, nieces, and tons of children in my life. Right now, I’m making one as a Christmas gift for a friend. It seems so appropriate that on my grandmother’s 110th birthday I sewed the body and stitched the hair. Every time I make a doll, I think of my wonderful grandmother and all of her patience and caring. I know that her love is inside of each doll.






by Randi Lee Ross Marodi ~ randileeross@gmail.com

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