OBITUARIES
ELIZABETH FRANCES FLEMING BLAKE 1908 - 2007

Elizabeth Frances Fleming Blake, "Betty", "Hon". "Sister", passed away peacefully on Monday, September 3, 2007. This is the same day she married her husband, William M. "Bill" Blake in 1930. Betty was born in Philadelphia, PA, and lived there until she married. Due to Bill's military career in the Coast Guard, she lived for short periods in Baltimore, MD, and Vicksburg, MS. They spent most of his career and retirement in Long Beach, MS, where they bore 11 children, raised 10, and seven remain. They moved to Pensacola Beach, FL, in 1972. Mr. Blake passed away in 1978.

Betty was a devout Catholic and was very active in church organizations. In Long Beach, the family was parishioners of St. Thomas Aquinas where Betty served as taxi driver for the schools nuns, Daughters of Charity. She was active in the Legion of Mary both in Long Beach and after the move to Pensacola Beach, where she was a parishioner of Our Lady of Assumption on Pensacola Beach, then St. Ann Catholic Church in Gulf Breeze.

Betty had lived independently until 2005 at which time she was moved to Bay Breeze Nursing and Retirement Center. The family would like to thank the Staff at Bay Breeze for their loving care of "Sister".

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, William M. "Bill" Blake, son Edward A. "Eddie" Blake, son John Patrick "Paddy" Blake, son Daniel "Danny" Blake, daughter Elizabeth "Betty Boop" Thompson. Betty was the last member of her Fleming family to pass away.

Left to cherish many happy memories are her seven children: Mary Ann "Nancy" Bombet of Baton Rouge, LA; William "Bill" Blake (Joyce) of Palm Desert, CA; Margaret "Peggy" Gehbauer of New Orleans, LA; Michael D. "Mickey" (Cindy) Blake of New Orleans, LA; Thomas "Tommy" Blake of Dallas, TX; Terrance "Terry" Blake of Houston, TX; Catherine "Susie" Hastings (Pete) of Gulf Breeze, FL. There are 25 grandchildren and last count 28 great-grandchildren (more arriving frequently).

BAYVIEW FISHER-POU CHAPEL is in charge of funeral arrangements.

A visitation and praying of the Rosary was held Thursday, September 6, at Bayview Fisher-Pou Chapel, 3351 Scenic Highway, Pensacola, FL.

Mom's faith kept her happy, loving and peaceful. Her vitality and exuberance were evident until her passing.

LILLIAN KAMPHUIS 1915 - 2007

Lillian Kamphuis, age 92, died Saturday, September 8, 2007, at her home on Pensacola Beach.

She was born August 27, 1915 at the Spring Hill College farm in Mobile, Alabama. She was the fourth of six children born to Jacob and Margaret Kamphuis, both deceased. Her parents married in their home in Holland and migrated within the week to Mobile with one dream: to own land and a milking herd. After years of frugal living the family acquired acreage in Semmes, Alabama and established the "Orchard Dairy". All the children worked in the Dairy, however, schooling was a top priority with their parents. Lil was the quiet student in the family. Always an avid reader, she graduated from Murphy High School at age 15 and Huntington College in Montgomery at age 19, where she majored in Chemistry and worked two jobs to supplement her scholarship.

After graduation Lil taught at the high school in Ozark, Alabama. Two things persuaded her never to teach again: many of the students were older and larger than she and the State's depressed situation resulted in faculty being paid with an I.O.U. She worked for the Aluminum Ore Company in Mobile until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. When the WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps) was organized, she joined. She had several assignments in the United States after Boot and Officers training, then overseas to High Wycombe, England, 8th Air Force Headquarters detached to the Central Interpretation Unit in Medmenham. Lil analyzed photos taken by planes of the 325th Phot Wing, pinpointing enemy targets. After the Normandy invasion she was assigned to Air Force Headquarters in France and took part in the Victory March down the Champs Eleysees. After her honorable discharge from the service and triumphant return on the Queen Mary in 1945, she worked in Miami at the Mount Sinai Hospital. She went overseas again for two years as a civilian with the Air Force to Tokyo, Japan. She returned home to Mobile and worked for several years at Remington Rand, She then returned to France with the Civil Service working with the Army, Navy and Air Force Joint Construction Agency building NATO Bases. It was during this period that Lil's father, Jacob visited her and they traveled together to the Netherlands to reunite with the Kamphuis family in the town of Epe. After France, Lil continued with the Civil Service in the States: first working at Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile until it closed in 1969, then Warner-Robins Air Material Area in Georgia until her retirement.

Lil moved to Gulf Breeze in 1974 and to Pensacola Beach permanently in 1976. She considered the Sans Souci her first and only home. Lil started bowling in 1938. Afounding member of the first women's bowling league in Mobile and helped start ladies leagues wherever she lived and was an active member of the Gulf Breeze Ladies League into her 90th year. She was a life member of the International Toastmistress Club, a devoted member of the Pensacola Beach Women's Club, a member of the Women's Army Corp Veteran's Association and the American Legion. She supported, with great enthusiasm, the Krew of Wrecks and was their queen of Mardi Gras in 1994. Lil volunteered with the Gulf Breeze Hospital, the Pensacola Beach Leaseholders and was a charter member of the Pensacola Beach Optimist Club. Lil and her family helped found St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Mobile. She has been a member and active participant of St. Francis of Assisi in Gulf Breeze for 33 years.

Lil was preceded in death by her parents, Jacob and Margaret Kamphuis; her sisters, Wilhelmina Champlin, Margaret Coleman, and Harriet Ennis; her brother, John W. Kamphuis; and her great-nephew, Joseph Van Kamphuis. She is survived by her brother, Jacob V. Kamphuis (Betty), Semmes, AL; her sister-in-law, Neva W. Kamphuis, Shreveport, LA; and her devoted niece, Carol Kamphuis Robison, Gulf Breeze, FL. Her extended surviving family includes: nieces, Greta V. Champlin, Montgomery, AL, Virginia (Shelton) Keel, Merryville, LA; nephews, Edward E. (Cheryl) Champlin, Edgewood, NM, John W. Jr. (DeAnna), Shreveport, LA, Carl B. (Cassandra) Kamphuis, Daphne, AL, Jacob J. (Dee) Kamphuis, Mobile, AL. She has 13 great-nieces and nephews and numerous greatgreat nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank her doctors, caretakers from Home Instead, Covenant Hospice, the Rev. Al Pruitt, all her many friends, and especially her devoted companion, Trish Briska, and her family.