Merry Christmas from the Blaneys!
2017 was a year of
highs and lows for our family. After a long, deliberate process Blaney
Funeral Home was sold to a non-Blaney. My brother, Mike, my sister, Mary
Jo, and I decided it was time and in June we retired. We have great
confidence in the new owners (a Green Bay Area family) and have just as much
confidence in the entire staff which was retained. It is difficult to step away from a 40 year
career but I look forward to spending more time with family and friends.
The summer began with
lots of time at the cottage with golfing, biking and kayaking on the agenda.
In June, Cathy's father had a wonderful party celebrating his 90th
birthday. It was great for him to be able to visit with his siblings, nieces & nephews, neighbors and friends. He truly enjoyed
the party. This time spent celebrating
his life and those he loved was especially precious as he passed away later that
summer after multiple bouts of pneumonia. He was a wonderful man who
loved his family and they loved him. You can read Kathleen's eulogy just below this blog post.
In early fall, Cathy and I decided to take our
camper out of mothballs (figuratively, not literally). We started
thinking small as to where we should go, but by our October 1st
departure date, we had decided to check off one of Cathy's bucket list items -
going to Vermont to see the fall colors. We also spent time in
Philadelphia, the Poconos, Gettysburg and Hershey, PA. Being that far east, Kathleen was able to join us over two weekends. The colors were
beautiful and it was great seeing Kathleen! Unfortunately, Erin’s school
schedule made it impossible for her to join us. 
As I write this Cathy
and I are planning a prolonged camping trip to Florida with a stop in The Villages to visit Bill Blaney who will be staying at Bill
and Karen Early’s place. We hope that Kathleen and Erin can join us. Kathleen is still working for the NYC Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene and Erin is in her third year of working as a
Social Worker at Washington Middle School in Green Bay. They got together this summer and traveled to
Ireland, Wales and England.
That’s
it for Blaney news for 2017. If you have
time, we’d love to hear from you.
Merry Christmas!
Ken and Cathy
