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Blanche Osburn - pert and alert at 100

On 4/18/2008

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Contributed by: Sherilyn Teague on 4/22/2008

Blanche Osburn has earned the right to give the rest of us a bit of advice. She celebrated her 100th birthday on April 18.

Friends and family members came from as far away as Guam to attend parties in her honor.

She says, "Be yourself, have the right attitude, and always have a smile on your face."

She was born and raised in Boston, Mass.,and worked there as a secretary for 16 years.

In 1943, she came to California to visit her sister. The two women went to Nevada to see her brother-in-law, who was in the U. S. Marines.

He introduced Blanche to a Marine buddy. Two months later, Blanche and Ossie were married. World War II soon parted the newlyweds. Ossie served in the Pacific, including Iwo Jima, where he was one of the last Marines to leave that embattled island.

In 1947, Blanche and Ossie built a home in Woodland Hills, a small community surrounded by orange orchards and horse and cattle ranches. They and their neighbors became lifetime friends and enjoyed many years of square dancing, potluck dinners and camping together.

After 56 years of marriage, Ossie passed away. Blanche still lives in the house they built, but in a very different Woodland Hills. Orchards and ranches have been replaced by high-rise buildings, shopping malls and multi-lane freeways.

Blanche advises those who wish to live a long and happy life to have good friends and to be one yourself

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