Edith Marie Blackburn

Edith Marie Blackburn passed away peacefully on January 7, 2024, at 95 years old. By all accounts, she was ready to go.
She was born in Dallas, Texas, on September 23, 1928, to William F. and Ethel Blackburn Pool. For most of her childhood, the family lived in a three-room home on 1230 E. Ledbetter, built by her father on a three-acre lot. They slept three to a bed. As the middle child of 11 siblings, she was well-versed in the political tactics needed to get her way most of the time.
Since there wasn't much money, they often scavenged for what they needed to make a good time. They would collect pecans from their yard to sell, pick cotton for the neighbor in exchange for nickels to go to the movies and grab ribbons off graves from the nearby cemetery.
Edith's first job was at a drugstore in downtown Dallas, where she took home $9.95 per week after withholdings. She held many jobs, including as a hostess, a bartender and, at two separate times, as a business owner.
Few people have enjoyed as long a retirement as hers, although she never stopped working. After moving to Garden Valley in 1971, she married the Van High School principal in 1974. She took great pride in keeping a lovely home and a beautiful garden. Even after she moved on from creating award-winning quilts (and the occasional useful item, like vests), she kept stitching, knitting, and crocheting things as long as her fingers would let her. While her focaccia bread never won any official awards, it once saved a small family attempting to cross the country in a blizzard.
She served as queen of the local Red Hat Society for many years, explored Alaska on a cruise and once stole a spoon from a Parisian cafe. When she wasn't reigning far and wide, she read constantly and enjoyed watching and discussing films. She also loved dominos, backhanded compliments and underhanded insults. Her friends and family knew how generous she was with her support, laughter, friendship-and occasionally her opinion. But whether it was true or not, she never once ran out of things to say.
She is predeceased by her husband, George Blackburn, her brothers and sisters, and her son, Gary Smart. She is survived by her son Alan Smart; her stepchildren Diane Crouch, Denise Blackburn, and Mark Blackburn; grandsons Walker and Collin; granddaughter Ingrin; step-grandchildren Ashley, Adam, Clay, Shelby, Kenneth, and Donovan; and four great-grandchildren.