Blanche Iva Walker Eyre, 89, passed peacefully into the next life on the evening of July 20 in Green River. She was born on Aug. 8, 1928, in Lyman, to Vernon John and Iva Eardley Walker. She was the fourth of nine children.
She was raised with her siblings in a small two-bedroom home with no indoor plumbing and, in the early days, no electricity. She had many memories of working and playing on the ranch, riding in the wagon to school and participating in school activities.
On March 15, 1948, she married E. Darrel (Dode) Eyre in Evanston. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. They were married for 56 years. The early part of their marriage was spent working on the ranch on the Lower Bench and then in the oil field, which took them to live in Montana, Utah, California and all over the state of Wyoming. Blanche was an excellent homemaker and made the best of their living conditions, whether it was in the little house on the ranch with no foundation or in a small trailer on some mountain or a trailer park in one of many towns where they lived. In 1961, they moved back to their ranch in Lyman.
She was an accomplished seamstress, sewing all of husband’s and son’s western shirts. Quite the perfectionist, if it wasn’t exactly right, it was painstakingly taken apart and redone. As her family grew older, she also sewed all her daughter’s dresses. She became known for her candy-making skills, and many wedding receptions featured her delicious buttermints as favors. She and “the girls” (Ruth, Glenys and Sharol) were a familiar sight as they took their daily walk around town for more than 25 years.
Blanche treasured her family above all else. She loved to have her children and grandchildren in her home for holidays and family dinners. She never turned down a chance to tend the grandchildren and would often have them all at once.
She served faithfully in many callings in the LDS church. In their retirement years, Blanche and Dode served two different missions at Martin’s Cove and at the Family History mission in Salt Lake. They also served together in the Ogden temple. She was the gracious and righteous matron of her family.
She is survived by her children, James Darrel (Rebekah) Eyre of Lyman and Rhonda (Garth) Bradshaw of Homer, Alaska; 12 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; one sister, Ethel McQueen of Coalville, Utah; and three brothers Trulon Walker of Mountain View, Gilbert (Virginia) Walker of Concord, California, and Ken (Ann) Walker of Kemmerer.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Dode; two infant sons, Vern Lelan and Blair; two infant daughters, Lydia Ann and Belinda Blanche; three brothers Howard, Wayne and Alan; a sister, June; and best friend, Vonda Platts.
The funeral will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 28, at the Lyman Stake Center in Urie. Viewings will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. on Friday, July 27, and one hour prior to the service on Saturday.
Condolences may be made at www.crandallfhevanston.com.
