Blanche Espelien

Blanche Espelien, age 88 of Edinburg, ND passed away on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at the Villa Maria Nursing Home in Fargo. Blanche Dahl was born July 6, 1922 near Grafton, ND the daughter of the late Theodore and Ellen (Stark) Dahl. She attended school in Park River. She was united in marriage to Reuben Espelien on December 10, 1938 at the Lutheran Parsonage in Grafton. The couple lived in Park River until 1948 when they started farming. In 1964 they purchased a farm near Adams and farmed there until 1998 when they moved into Edinburg, ND. She was a member of the Golden Lutheran Church and WELCA of Park River, the Hitterdal Lutheran Church and WELCA, rural Milton, Mountain Lutheran Church and WELCA, Adams, and the Trinity Lutheran Church and WELCA of Edinburg. Blanche and Reuben spent 26 winters at their home in Arizona and enjoyed fishing and entertaining family and friends at their lake home at Devils Lake. She was Reuben's favorite farm hand doing field work and combining. She enjoyed her vegetable and flower gardens, cooking and was very fond of her tea pot collection. She is survived by her daughters: Lorna (Norris) Haug, West Fargo, ND; Sandra (Lon) Drevecky, Minot, ND; eight grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, sister Thelma Vreeland, Grand Forks, ND; and brother Ronald (Barbara) Dahl, Weslaco, Texas. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband on Nov. 21, 2009, daughter Ellen Demarais, sister Ruth Ann Gjevre.