Memorial services for Blanche Kelly Bankes, 91, of Albert Lea will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Kent Otterman will officiate. Interment will be at the Hollandale Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.
Blanche died Thursday, June 10, 2010, at the Good Samaritan Center in Albert Lea.
Blanche Kelly Bankes was born on March 29, 1919, to Phinas “Jack” and Ethel (Herdon) Kelly in Green City, Mo. She grew up on a farm outside of Green City, Mo. In May of 1937 she married Virgil Bankes in Missouri. The couple moved to southern Iowa then, in the 1950’s, they moved to Maple Island. Blanche was a housewife and worked as a potato grater for the Hollandale Association. She also did house cleaning and was a personal care attendant in Hollandale. In the early 1980’s Blanche moved to Albert Lea. She was a previous member of the 7th Day Adventist Church. Blanche was an amazing cook, she enjoyed baking and loved sewing and gardening as well.
Survivors include her son, Jack (Liz) Bankes; grandchildren: Shane (Jessie) Bankes and their children Catilyn and Cameron, Linsy Bankes, fiancé, Chris Miller and their daughter Winter Miller, Mike (Lenny) King and their children Sydney and Sam, and Michelle King; step-grandchildren, Angelique, Jennifer, Raymond, Katherine and Sarah; 13 step-great-grandchildren; and sister, Joann Young.
Blanche was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Virgil; daughter and son-in-law, Virgetta and Luvern King; brothers: Ralph and Dale Kelly; and sister, Blandetta Bramble.