Glen Blanton, beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother and friend, passed away gently in his sleep Sunday, morning of his 90th birthday, September 28, 2003. Glen was born September 28, 1913 to John and Maggie Crawford Blanton in Lyman, Washington. He was the epitome of the quiet man of strength – loving, gentle, compassionate – a man whose greatest loves were his family and the natural world of mountains and forests. His early years were spent as a logger and he became one of the first of these hardy souls to use a power saw. When age, and his wife, dictated that he find a safer vocation, he signed on with the Forest Service and spent the ensuing years to his retirement caretaking his treasured woodlands and keeping an eye out for fire hazards.

Glen married Mona Lumbert of Sedro-Woolley on November 2, 1935 and they had three daughters. The family lived first in Sedro-Woolley, then Bellingham, Glacier, and finally back to Sedro-Woolley as Glen followed the logging camps. As a couple, Glen and Mona enjoyed dancing, bowling, camping and gardening. They were to share 53 years together.

Glen was preceded in death by his beloved Mona in July of 1989; his brothers, Ray, Don, John and Jack; his sisters, Dolly, Minnie and Louise; and by his dear friend, Edith Atchley, with whom he renewed his love of dancing and spent several years of treasured companionship.

Surviving Glen are his 3 daughters: Vicki Beavers, Penny and her husband Del Carlson, and Glenna and her husband Pat Olson; grandchildren: Patti Olson, Laura Olson-Bigelow, Kelly Gallagher, Bonnie Gronemyer, Cory Beavers, Katie Adams, and special grandson-in-law, Steve Adams; great-grandchildren: Laura and Lindsay Howell, Kristi Gallagher, Anthony, Ashlee, Autumn and Amber Olson-Bigelow, Kyndel Adams and Emily Beavers; 3 sisters: Velma Ross, Helen and her husband Kenneth Foskett and Betty and her husband Paul Cross. And numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives.

A beautiful soul has been set free, leaving a legacy of love, dignity and precious memories to a family who cherished him and honored the example he lived.

A private family celebration of his life will be held at a later date. Glen’s ashes will be placed by those of his wife in the family plot in the Lyman Cemetery.

"I shall live beyond death, and I shall Sing in your ears
Even after the vast sea-wave carries me
Back
To the vast sea depth.
I shall sit at your board though without a
body,
And I shall go with you to your fields, a
spirit invisible.
I shall come to you at your fireside, a
guest unseen.
Death changes nothing but the masks
that cover our faces.
The woodsman shall be still a woodsman,
The ploughman, a ploughman,
And he who sang his song to the wind
shall sing it also to the moving spheres."

" From the Garden of the Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran