Col. Blanche B Friday

Born on March 21, 1934 in Girardville to the late Edward A. Friday and the late Mary V. Friday (Casino).

Blanche was raised in a small coal miner's town of Girardville, Pennsylvania. She was a 1951 graduate of Girardville High School. During her high school years in the summer she worked in Wildwood, New Jersey. She went on to earn her BSN in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, and later earned her Master's Degree in Business. After graduating, she worked in various ER's including Penn, Boston and in London.

She later entered the USAF as an Officer and became a Flight Nurse. She rose to the rank of Colonel and lived around the world during her USAF service career.

Blanche was also a Nurse Member of the Medical Support Team for the Apollo 11 Astronauts when she was assigned to the Bio-astronautics Operational Support Unit at Cape Canaveral. Her name is honored and memorialized on the Wall of Honor at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

During the Vietnam War she was a command flight nurse in charge of flying American wounded out of Vietnam and into Japan and the Philippines. In 1975 Blanche was part of the command team during Operation BabyLift, where hundreds of abandoned/orphaned babies were evacuated out of Vietnam.

Blanche's final assignment with the Air Force was at Langley Air Force Base, Hampton, Virginia where she ultimately retired and remained living for several years to care for her mother, Mary.

During her retirement she embarked on a second very successful career in real estate.

By 2000, Blanche decided that returning to her roots in Pennsylvania would be the best place to continue to care for her mother where they would be closer to her sisters, Jean and Betty Ann, and other family members. She returned to Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, and lived there for several years. Around 2018, Blanche made one final move to Ann's Choice in Warminster, Pennsylvania.

Blanche enjoyed travel, reading, including gossip magazines, she loved to play Black Jack and would spend hours, even overnight sometimes playing at the Black Jack tables. She was a shop-until-you-drop gal, and likely one of QVC's top shoppers. She loved all types of gadgets and chances are if you were in her home or the home of her nephew or one of her nieces, you likely would see a “Blanche, QVC purchase.” She loved Broadway, movies, books and the beach where she preferred to sit and relax in the sun all day. She was a foodie and loved a good authentic Japanese or Italian meal. She would never pass up the opportunity for ice cream at any hour of the day or night. She professed the importance of education, trades and hard work. She was a savvy and successful investor.

She was quite the giver not only being there for her family, but strangers as well. She had a very strong personality on the outside, but a giving and loving heart on the inside. She was a great caregiver to the sick. She could swing into nurse mode at any given time and did so even up until the past few months of her life.

Her biggest love was for her remaining family.

Blanche is survived by her sisters, Jean Petrucka (late Russell) Betty Ann McLaughlin (Late Dan), Nephew, Daniel McLaughlin (Michelina), niece, Michelle Cummins (Patrick), niece, Beth Ann McKenna (Michael) and her great nieces and nephews, Timmy McKenna, Danny McLaughlin, Michael McLaughlin, Shannon Hamilton (Wes), Sarah Cummins, Olivia McLaughlin, Luke McLaughlin.

Blanche was predeceased by her mother, Mary V. Friday, (Casino), her father, Edward A. Friday.

She is survived by several cousins.

A memorial visitation for Blanche will be held Thursday, May 1, 2025 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Ann's Choice Chapel, 30000 Ann's Choice Way Chapel, Warminster, Pennsylvania 18974 followed by a memorial service from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM. Afterward, a burial will occur at 2:30 PM at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, 830 Highland Road, Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940.

Memorial Contributions may be made in her name to the Ann's Choice Benevolent Fund: 30000 Ann's Choice Way, Warminster, PA 18974 and The Wounded Warriors Foundation: https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org or mail to: P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516