Date of Birth:
Sunday, February 17, 1924
Date of Death:
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Age:
93 years old

Doris Blondell

A memorial service for Doris A. (Eckardt) Blondell will be help at 5pm on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 in River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home, 1105 12th St SE, Rochester, MN 55904 with Rev. Thomas Loomis officiating. Visitation with the family will be one hour prior to the service.

Doris, 93, passed away peacefully June 1, 2017 in Rochester, MN surrounded by her family.

Doris Anita Eckardt was born February 17, 1924, in Anaheim, California, to Karl and Anna (Guenter) Eckardt. She moved with her parents to Red Wing, Minnesota, where Doris graduated high school. After graduation, work was hard to come by, so she moved with her father to Las Vegas and became a bookkeeper. During World War II, she worked for the United States Government, in the pre-computer era, working with punch cards, and she had a short stint as a ‘movie star,’ acting in a dairy commercial.

She met Richard C. Blondell in high school and they married September 17, 1944, in Red Wing, MN. After several moves to find work, the couple settled in Rochester, MN where they raised their children. They opened and operated several businesses in Rochester; The Heidi House & the A&W Root Beer stand, and in 1972, they sold their home and built the Blondell Motel. Mr. Blondell died on May 31, 1990 and Doris, along with her children, continued to operate the motel until it sold in 2011, forcing Doris to retire at age 88.

Doris was an ambitious, adventurous, and highly intelligent lady, who, as an avid antique dealer and collector, owned Blondell Antiques for many years, traveling the world in search of unique pieces. Additionally, she was an antique appraiser for the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, IA. In her youth, the adventurous Doris took pilot lessons, flying a few planes herself. She especially loved spending time making memories with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Their presence would make her light up and she’d stop whatever she was doing to devote her attention to them. She always had treats for the family dogs who would visit and candy for the great-grandkids. She had a passion for dancing, spending many glorious nights dancing with Richard, and later in life, she danced with her great-grandchildren. She was quick to forgive and laugh, laughing most at the jokes her grandsons would play on her. She taught her family, by example, how to love, accept and support each other regardless of mistakes or biological background. We will miss her more than words can express.

Doris joins her husband, Richard, her son, Ricky, her parents and siblings, who preceded her in death.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, Tom (Kim) Blondell and Carla (Matt) O’Neill; her grandchildren, Jessica (Jay) Radniecki, Lindsey (Dan) Boettcher, Ryan (Michele) Richardt, Ross Blondell, Riley (Becca) O’Neill, and Richard O’Neill; her great-grandchildren, Nikki (Josh Evans) Richardt, Allie, Crystal, Rachel, and Joey Bunkofske, Keegan, Jack and Keeli Richardt, Penny Radniecki, Harper Boettcher, Bannon and Reagan O’Neill, one little boy due in August and other extended family members.

Doris’ family would like to thank the staff at St. Mary’s Hospital, especially, the neurology care team and nurses, the palliative care team and nurses, and other staff members we met for their compassionate, respectful and extremely thoughtful care of our mother/grandmother and for their gracious support of us during our time of enormous loss. Words simply are not adequate.

There will be a private burial at a later date.