Life Story and Reflection - June Blanchard by Tatum O'Shea

Interview with June Mowbray Blanchard

tatumoshea — 2025-04-29 19:22:18 UTC

June Blanchard, also known as Nana, has two daughters, (Brenna and Courtney), two son-in-laws (David and Sean), and 9 grandchildren!

Married

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Basil Barton Blanchard III (Bart) married June Mowbray in August of 1968 - they married at March Chapel at Boston College. In 2018, Bart (also known as Grampy) tragically based away after being together for almost 50 years.

**Pictured is Grampy with "sand Grampy" created by the cousins on the beach.

Grandchildren

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Brenna and David --> Timothy, Ruthie, Priscilla, Mary, and Phoebe

Courtney and Sean --> Molly, Finn, Tatum, and Maiti

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June graduated in 1965, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

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June was born on June 1, 1944 in East Orange, New Jersey. She was the second and youngest child in her family, born after Carol. Her early memories were the years spent in Quincy, Massachusetts, surrounded by water.

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At age 10, June got Polio. She spent three months at Haynes Memorial Hospital in Massachusetts. Her parents were only allowed to visit once a week, and she was never allowed in the same room with her sister. Later in her adult life, June was diagnosed with Post-Polio syndrome, which is essentially when the muscle weakness and pain from Polio returns.

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After graduation June went to work for one of her teachers, Hans Krieks, and stayed in the same career for 43 years. She worked for recognized designs, such as Massimo Vignelli. In 2007 June retired, allowing her more time with her passion of knitting as well as spending time with her family.

June's Values

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June values family most in her life. "I love that I have nine beautiful grandchildren, my two daughters, and their husbands". They have lend a richness and meaning to her life she explains, even when they are all loud!

Knitting Creations

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June has knit for all of her grandchildren, making them hats (pictured above on the left), scarves, and blankets. June is also very talented at needle felting, and enjoys giving give to people.

June turned 80!

tatumoshea — 2025-05-01 16:18:34 UTC

This past June we were able to celebrate our Nana's 80th birthday at her living facility. We had a nice afternoon party, where family, friends and neighbors gathered to celebrate this special birthday!

Cape Cod

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As a child, she grew up spending time on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. This tradition then restarted with the next generation. Every summer growing up the grandkids would reunited on the Cape, running between the two rented beach houses we grew to love.

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Despite June's sickness during childhood she never wanted to be stopped from doing things she loved, so during her teenage years June joined the Girls Athletic Association (GAA) at Quincy High School. She was the captain of the basketball and field hockey teams, and was a cheerleader.

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A thank you to my Nana!

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Reflection

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To my lovely Nana, I love you! ~ Tatum O'Shea

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