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Dorothy Blair

Lead Summary

Dorothy Blair passed away Monday, June 15, 2020, at The Deerfield in New Richmond, Wisconsin.
       Mrs. Dorothy Avis Allston Blair, aged 96, was born on April 17, 1924, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Brainerd, Minnesota, to William Daniel and Edith Pearl (Turner) Allston. She grew up on a dairy farm called “DorDon Acres” near Highway 18, near Brainerd. She sang in the school and church choirs and took lessons for the piano and organ. By the time she graduated from high school with honors in 1942, she could type 160 words a minute. During the summer months she would help on the farm by milking cows and driving the tractor to cut corn.
       In the fall of 1942 Dorothy moved to Washington, D.C., to work as a secretary in the War Department and the Pentagon. She attended New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in D.C., the church that President Lincoln attended when he was president.
       She returned to Brainerd in 1945 after World War II ended and started working for a group called Christian Endeavor.
       During the summer of 1948 at Bible Camp, she met Burton Blair, a farmer from Winnebago, Minnesota. They married on Nov. 26, 1949. Burton and Dorothy moved to Dubuque, Iowa, after they were married so Burton could pursue a degree in Seminary Studies and become a pastor.
       While working at the Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek, Minnesota, Dorothy published a weekly, mimeographed newspaper called “The Beaver Creek Banner” for about five years.
       Dorothy and Burton retired from serving churches in 1986 and lived on a small acreage near Valley Springs, South Dakota, for 17 years. They later lived in Luverne, Minnesota, and Brandon, South Dakota, before moving to New Richmond, Wisconsin, in 2012.
       Dorothy was preceded in death by her baby brother Robert, her son-in-law C. Scott Feltman, and her dear husband Burton Blair.
       Dorothy is survived by her brother Don Allston of Seattle, Washington, and her three children: Marlene (Lyle) Erickson of Dell Rapids, South Dakota, Bruce (Brenda) Blair of Welch, Minnesota, and Nola (Klaus) Lebrecht of New Richmond, Wisconsin. She is also survived by eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
       A Sunday worship service and funeral will be held in her honor at the Bass Lake Community Church in Winnebago, Minnesota, on Sunday, June 21, at 11 a.m. Bring a camp chair to join friends and families on the lawn of the white church. Following the service and burial in the church cemetery, a picnic style box lunch will be provided. RSVP to 605-681-4713 (voice or text). Memorials can be sent to the Christian Worship Hour of Aberdeen, South Dakota.
       Spencer-Owen Funeral Home in Winnebago, Minnesota, is entrusted with arrangements. Online condolences can be left at www.spencerowen.com.
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