Doreen Dahl Blackburn

   Doreen Dahl Blackburn, 88, passed away on August 13, 2023, due to complications of old age. Doreen was born on October 23, 1934, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Olaus Bert Dahle and Jennie Amelia Petersen. Doreen was three years old when her mother passed away. Since the country was in the Great Depression with its subsequent economic challenges, her father left Doreen in the care of her maternal grandparents. Doreen later went to live with her maternal aunt and uncle, Mabel and Earl Smith, in Beaver, Utah.

   While growing up in Beaver, Doreen discovered a love for drama, especially musicals. Over the years she directed numerous plays and skits in her church community and loved to attend professional productions whenever she could.  Doreen also became an accomplished seamstress in her teen-age years and used her skills to clothe her children, decorate her home, and make beautiful quilts.

   After high school, Doreen moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where she worked as a typist. Doreen lived in the Beehive house which was then a dormitory for single working women. It was while she was living in the Beehive House that she met her future husband, John Barrie Blackburn, as he was preparing to leave on a mission to Northern California for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

  Doreen and Barrie were married shortly after Barrie returned from his mission. They moved to California to have and raise their family of 2 boys and 3 girls. Doreen and Barrie experienced the heartache of having both of their sons die in their youth, Robert in 1963 and James Blair in 1977.  Doreen once again experienced the heartache of loss with the death of her husband, Barrie, in 1999.

   Doreen was actively involved throughout her whole life as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She served in many positions of service in the church during her long life. She was especially proud to have served as a Senior Missionary to New Zealand after the death of her husband.  Doreen had a great love for temple work and served in four different temples starting as a typist in the 1960’s in the Los Angles Temple and then as a temple worker in the Oakland, Chicago, and New Zealand temples. More recently, Doreen was active in her local chapter of The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and her book club until poor health curtailed her involvement.

   Doreen was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her two sons. She is survived by three daughters, Janice (Philip) Smith, Connie Blackburn, and Yvonne (Daniel) McCord, seven grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. She will be interred in the Fair Oaks City cemetery in Fair Oaks, California.  A Memorial Service will be held at a future date.

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