Edna Blain's Obituary
Edna Blain was born on August 15, 1923 in London, England, to Mr. Bertie Guy and Mrs. May Guy (Connor). After successfully completing the English requirement for high school, she entered the fur trade at age fourteen making garments in the “Israel and Sam Saponie” factory.
At the start of the Second World War (1939 – 1942), Edna volunteered to serve in the English Homeland Defense as an air raid warden. She lived in London with her family and was a survivor of the Battle of Britain (July – October 1940) when the German Air Force tried to break the English will to fight by directly bombing the city of London. As an air raid warden, she directed fire trucks to burning buildings when communications were disabled, provided direct first aid to injured civilians, and often had to extinguish small fires from incendiary explosives that were designed to scatter flaming particles to maximize damage. During this period of time she barely escaped injury or death on numerous occasions. She escaped being killed by a time bomb which had fallen behind a wall where she and her friends stopped and sat daily for lunch. Fortunately, the bomb exploded only after she and her friends had walked far enough away for the bomb’s impact to knock them down, and injure Edna with nothing more serious than two black eyes. Edna’s own home received partial damage from a bomb, and she luckily avoided taking shelter in a church basement which was serving as an air raid shelter on the occasion that it was directly hit by a bomb killing all 150 of her neighbors. She once remarked that the “fire bombs” that splashed jellied gasoline were the worst; they immediately caught a building or person on fire upon impact.
Once old enough to enlist, Edna joined the Woman’s Auxiliary Air Force (W.A.A.F) division of the Royal Air Force (R.A.F) and served from 1942 – 1946 until she was honorably discharged. During this period of time she was trained to drive a variety of “lorries” or large trucks. Some of her duties were to transport aircraft engines, sheets of aluminum strips used to jam enemy radar, and injured airmen to hospitals for treatment. She experienced being attacked by the flying V1 “buzz bomb” and V2 rocket. Edna often stated that the V2 rockets were particularly bothersome because you could not hear them coming; only an entire block of houses would explode and be decimated after impact. These early experiences in Edna’s life embedded a deep nationalistic pride in being an English citizen that she never wanted to relinquish her entire life.
It was also during the war years that she met a young, handsome American soldier, Henry Blain (AKA Blaszkiewicz) with whom she fell deeply in love. Henry and Edna were married in London on July 28, 1945. In 1946, Henry was also honorably discharged and they came to the United States to start a life together. Henry worked as a District Sales Manager of the Sanders Candy Company and lived in the northwest Detroit area with their three young sons. Tragically, we lost our father after a long battle with cancer in 1971. Mom never remarried and once joked “I married the first time for love; I will only marry again for money”. Mom supported her young family by working in numerous occupations, most notably with the Michigan Colon and Rectal Surgeons of Michigan.
Our mom leaves behind her three sons: Michael (Mary), Norman (Barbara), and Kenneth (Jennifer), and five grandchildren: Christopher, Michelle, Matthew, Amanda, and Connor. Mom was always a voracious reader who only watched television once a week on Sunday nights (Masterpiece Theater). It was common for her to read numerous books a week up until her passing. She also enjoyed the fine arts, stage shows, movies, ice skating, tennis, swimming, playing darts, and large Irish setter dogs. Mom possessed an extremely positive outlook on life, was always a proper lady, but could be strict when necessary to reign in three teenaged boys. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her and especially by her family who were so proud of her.
Since 1988, our mother has suffered with the “Restless Legs Syndrome”. It is our mother’s wish that if one desires to send flowers, a donation to the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation be made on her behalf instead.
Memorial visitation will be held Friday, February 15, 2013 from 3pm to 8pm, Memorialized Tribute at 7 pm, at the Hopcroft Funeral Home, 31145 John R. Road, Madison Heights.
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