Obituaries

Kathleen Myra Frances Blatherwick, known to her friends as "Fran", died January 10, 2010 in Ithaca, NY. She was born on November 13, 1910 in Alton in Hampshire England. She attended St Margarets Bushey and received a degree in teacher education from Bishop Otter College in Chichester. She taught at Bishop Strachan School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where she married her first husband, Ralph Richard Sturgeon.

After his death she returned to England and lived in Cheltenham. She came to the United States in 1948 to marry Norman, "Jim", Blatherwick, former superintendant of Buttermilk Falls and Taughannock Falls State Parks. Following his retirement they lived on Anna Maria Island in Florida during the winter. Fran served as a volunteer to the Service League, Meals on Wheels and the Finger Lakes Library System into her nineties and also read to the blind. She was a life-long lover of nature and expert on wild flowers.

An avid tennis player, she played tennis well into her eighties. Her other love was bridge where she was known for her prowess. She is survived by her daughters, M. Myra S. White of Boston and Elizabeth B. Hughes of Philadelphia.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 6 at 11 am at St. John's Episcopal Church, 210 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY. Donations can be made to The Nature Conservancy or Arbor Day Foundation in lieu of flowers.