Muriel Jeanblanc

Muriel K. Jeanblanc, 96, a long-time resident of New Braunfels, Texas, died on August 27, 2009 from congestive heart failure. She was the second of five Children, daughter of Charles Raymond and Effie Maude Mary Glasson Kent, born July 29, 1913 at their home in Larrabee, Iowa. Her parents immigrated from Cornwall, England settling on a farm outside of Larrabee, where she grew up graduating from Larrabee High School in 1931. The Depression forced her family off their farm in 1931, and it was a $ 100 church scholarship that enabled her to attend Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where she earned her BSM Degree in School Music in 1935. During college, she lived with a family in Sioux City, earning her room and board by baby-sitting and doing household chores for them. Following graduation, she taught high-school music and English in Washta, Iowa for two years and in Lytton, Iowa for the next two years. She also taught music to the junior high school students in both towns. Jobs were scarce, and the father of a friend drove her over 40 miles of bumpy roads to Washta for her interview with the local school board for her first job. Before she graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City, she met her husband-to-be. She was invited to dinner by another family where her sister, also attending Morningside, was working for her room and board. For him, it was a visit to see his sister and brother-in-law. The courtship that developed involved his writing her many letters, and nearly one every day while he was doing his graduate law-school work in New York City. They were married August 1, 1939. He became a law school professor, and they lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Louis, Missouri. When he retired from teaching in 1955, they settled in northern Illinois where he was a businessman and practiced law. They retired to New Braunfels, living there for over 35 years. Known as “Judy” to her friends, she was a member and Past Matron of the Eastern Star Chapter in Franklin Grove, Illinois. And, she was a charter member of the United Methodist Church at Canyon Lake, Texas. Her husband of 66 years, Lindsey R. Jeanblanc, passed away in 2006. She also was preceded in death by a son, Edward W. Jeanblanc, and by three sisters (Marie Kent Gilbert, Justine Kent Bohls, and Phillis Kent) and a brother ( Arthur Kent). She is survived by two sons, James K. Jeanblanc of Arlington, Virginia and Donald R. Jeanblanc of Havre de Grace, Maryland; daughters-in-law, Barbara M. Jeanblanc and Janet R. Jeanblanc; four grandchildren, Sara A. Jeanblanc and Michael C. Jeanblanc of Arlington, Virgina, Susan J. Cohen of Havre de Grace, Maryland, and Mark E. Jeanblanc of Baltimore, Maryland; and four great-grandchildren, Lindsey J. Cohen and Ethan M. Cohen of Havre de Grace, Maryland, and Noah E. Jeanblanc and William H. Jeanblanc of Baltimore, Maryland. A memorial service will be held Sat. Oct. 17, 2009 at 11:00 AM in the Milm-Jones Funeral Home in Amboy, Illinois with Chuck Jeanblanc pastor of the United First Chuch in Amboy officiating. Burial of cremains will follow at the Woodside Cemetery in Lee Center, Illinois. Visitation will be on Saturday from 10:00 to 11:00 AM at the funeral home.

Muriel Jeanblanc

July 29, 1913 - August 27, 2009