Bernice Mary Blystone

BLYSTONE, Bernice Mary (Robinson)
Longtime Elmira resident, Bernice Blystone, who saw the first telephone and the first automobile arrive in her native South Dakota, and drove a car from age 12 to age 92, died Sunday, May 6, in Amherst, MA. She was 102. She moved from New York City to Elmira in 1932 and in 1998 moved to Amherst, 3 years after the death of her husband of 66 years, M. Eugene Blystone. The daughter of one of Huron SD's pioneer businessmen, she received an Associate's degree from Monticello College, Alton, IL, in 1924 and a BS from Simmons College in Boston in 1927. She also attended the University of Nebraska and Huron College. She worked in Elmira for Hygeia Ice and was business manager for the construction firm of her husband, M. Eugene Blystone. She also taught in the Elmira school system. For most of their years in Elmira, the Blystones lived on Durland Ave. and finally on Demarest Pkwy. From 1959 to 1961, they lived in Vienna, Austria, where Eugene Blystone was a planning consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency. Bernice took great pleasure in the cultural richness of Vienna and afterward fondly remembered those years. The Blystones were members of First Presbyterian Church where in 1957, Bernice and Esther Young (also recently turned 102) were the first women to be elected Trustees of the church. Known as "Benny" to her friends, she was active in Wednesday Morning Club. She is survived by her daughter, Louise Blystone Reilly and her husband, Frank of Amherst, MA; and son, Richard Blystone and his wife, Helle of London; seven grandchildren, Katherine Reilly LaPia of Exeter, NH, Timothy Reilly of Atlanta, Elizabeth Reilly Crotty of New York, and Anne Reilly Howard of Denver, John Blystone of London, Julia Blystone of San Francisco, Daniel Blystone of Chicago; and four great-grandchildren, Alexis and Emily LaPia, and Jackson and Lily Reilly. Interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery. There will be a memorial service in Elmira at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to Capabilities, Inc, 1149 Sullivan St., 14901; First Presbyterian Church, 1054 W. Clinton St., 14905; the American Red Cross, 911 Stowell St., 14901.