Edna Marie Blethen
June 30, 1916 — Aug. 12, 2006
Native Oregonian and longtime Beaverton resident Edna Marie Blethen died Saturday at age 90. Visitation at Skyline Memorial Gardens, 4101 N.W. Skyline Blvd., will begin at noon Thursday and graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Mrs. Blethen, whose maiden name was Blanken, was born June 30, 1916, in Lake Oswego.
Her husband Bernard preceded her in death. Surviving are sons James, Michael and Ernest; daughter Patricia; plus six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
1803. Rev John Francis Blethen
Rev. John Blethen found a home in his heart for orphans and impoverished families in need of shelter. Taking over the management of Hagar Infantil la Gloria orphanage in Tijuana in 1975, Fr. Blethen raised funds to upgrade educational programs, living conditions and medical care.
Besides his dedication to the orphanage, he administered the Villa Nueva low-income residential complex in San Ysidro and supervised the construction of framed houses for many Tijuana families living in squalor.
The Rev. Blethen, who retired in 1996, died of complications from Parkinson's disease 7 October at Nazareth House in Mission Valley. He was 78.
In January 1988, Fr. Blethen received a State of the City award from then-Mayor Maureen O'Connor for his community service. "He touched almost every family in San Ysidro with his grace, compassion and unassuming generosity," O'Connor said of his role at Villa Nueva.
At the Tijuana orphanage, which is 13 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border, the Rev. Blethen attracted volunteers from various religious organizations, high schools and universities throughout the nation. He secured food, gifts and medical supplies for its children, ranging from infants to 15-year-olds, and found assistance in the United States for those with rare medical conditions.
In July, Fr. Blethen's efforts to provide a computer center for the 290 unit Villa Nueva complex was rewarded with the opening of the Villa Nueva Computer Learning and Educational Center. A joint effort by the San Diego Scholarship Foundation, Villa Nueva Housing Inc. and the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development, the project provided 35 top of the line computers and was billed as the largest computer and educational center of its kind. The Rev. Blethen and O'Connor opened the center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and 'kids swarmed to the new terminal to begin surfing the Internet," reported La Prensa San Diego.
A native San Diegan, Fr. Blethen aspired to be an Augustinian pries as a child. After graduating from St. Augustine High School, he attended San Diego State College for a year, then transferred to Villanova University, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1945. Before his ordination into the priesthood in 1949, he earned a master's degree at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
His clerical career began in the classroom, teaching at Villanova Preparatory School in Ojai and at his St. Augustine alma mater in North Park. He served as a Navy chaplain for three years and later was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas parish in Ojai. In 1968, when the vice province of St. Augustine was recognized as a province, he was selected as its first superior. Among his first tasks: founding the Villa Nueva housing development in San Ysidro. He served as its first executive director and assumed the role of director of social services in 1984.
Fr. Blethen's role at Hogar Infantil la Gloria stemmed from an appeal to the Augustinians by Lupita and Guillermo MacFarland, who had taken over management of the orphanage when it fell into disrepair in the early 1970's. He answered their call, overseeing children who were placed there under the custody of the Mexican social services agency.
Father Blethen is survived by several nieces and nephews.