Mary Ellen (Cruzen) Blumke
In the hearts of those who loved you, you will always be.
Obituary
On March 17th, 2025 Mary Ellen (Cruzen) Blumke was called to Paradise. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her children, knowing she was loved and cherished by her four children, daughters-in-law, five grandchildren, and all those whose lives she touched.
Her life was filled and nurtured by her need to help others. Through her volunteer efforts with the youth athletics in Minnesota and with people afflicted by Mental Health conditions or chemical dependency issues both in Minnesota and Arizona. As children we often had to share our mother with strangers, family and friends. She took a leave of absence to help her sister's family process the diagnosis of terminal cancer, she would arrange her schedule to help shuttle others to and from treatments around the St. Cloud area and the Twin Cities and always had a pot of hot coffee or a cold coke for those who needed a listening ear and friendly smile. There are countless days when we children would come home to visitors at our kitchen table chatting away for hours with Mom, be it old acquaintances, current friends or friends of her children. She was fiercely loyal to her family and friends.
In her later years, one of her great loves was hosting an annual Halloween parade through the backyard of her home in Arizona for the neighborhood children. Those children and parents would revel in the ever evolving creations her family concocted. She loved to see the look of wonder on the faces of those who partook in this safe space and she was amazed at the ever growing numbers of those who came to witness the display, often marveling in the great distances some traveled as word of mouth spread from the neighborhood.
With respect to her wishes we will be having a private memorial for the immediate family, We ask that any donations you would like to make in her name would go to support your local Human Society or the one we've linked below. Throughout her time she's rescued 6 dogs and provided them a wonderful home, or helped to re-home gifting further joy and warmth to another's home.
Please help us keep her alive through this memoriam. By sharing you will help us all relive and learn more about this amazing person who lived to impact others.
Donations
In honor of Mary, we invite you to contribute to a cause that was near and dear to her heart.
Arizona Humane Society, South Mountain Campus: www.azhumane.org
Gallery
Memory wall
My thoughts are with the entire family during this difficult time ❤️
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