Nathan Alfred Blood Jr.

BLOOD, JR. NATHAN ALFRED Oct. 4, 1930 to Feb. 20, 2003 Nathan A. Blood Jr., loving father and devoted husband, U.S. Army veteran, longtime San Diego Gas & Electric employee, and son of a San Diegan who came here in 1898, died February 20, at his home in North Park. He was 72. He had waged a valiant two year battle with cancer. Blood retired from San Diego Gas & Electric in 1990, concluding a 40 year career which saw him rise from young trainee to foreman of a digging crew. During that distinguished career, Blood supervised many transmission and distribution support jobs needed to provide reliable customer electrical service. He won numerous SDG efficiency and safety awards. A graduate of McKinley Elementary and Roosevelt Jr. High School, Blood graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in 1949, and was active in weekly alumni affairs up until his death. He was also active in the SDG Old Timers Club made up of retirees such as himself who served the citizens of Greater San Diego during their own long careers. Blood served his country in the United States Army as a combat rifleman with the 32nd Infantry during the Korean War. For his service, in which he saw combat in the front lines, Blood earned the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Korean Service Medal with One Bronze Star. After retiring from SDG , Blood pursued his lifelong interest in travel, taking extensive family tours throughout most parts of Europe, the Mediterranean, Egypt, China, Alaska, Turkey, and other countries. Blood ' s family roots in San Diego history extend back before the turn of the 20th Century. Blood ' s father became a San Diegan when he jumped ship here from New England at age 13 in 1898. He made San Diego his home, and also had a long and honorable career as an electric lineman with SDG from 1906 to 1936. Blood ' s first wife, Jacqueline Laird Blood, also a native San Diegan whose family extends back decades into San Diego history, died here of cancer in late 1983. During her career she served the San Diego Community College District as a secretary while raising her family and participating in numerous area civic and social organizations. Blood is survived by his second wife, Patricia McCauley Blood and two daughters by his previous marriage. Vondi Forrester of Long Beach, Victoria L. Blood of San Diego. He is also survived by stepdaughters Karen Keefer of San Diego, and Vicky Rose Burke of Dallas as well as one stepson John Christianson who resides in the Bay Area, and their spouses and children. Memorial services for Nathan A. Blood will be held at Christ Church Unity, 311 Highland Avenue, El Cajon, Saturday, March 8, 2003, at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent in Nathan Blood ' s name to San Diego Hospice, 4311 3rd Avenue, San Diego, 92103.