Obituary for Lula Belle Blackham

Lula Belle Bamgartner Blackham completed her sojourn in mortality on June 17, 2008, having battled Leukemia for the past seven months. She lived a life filled with love and service, savoring relationships with friends and associates. The joy of her life was Gus, her husband of 62 years, and the posterity of nearly 100 over which they preside.

Lulie was born September 19, 1926 in McGill, Nevada to Emil and Loretta Bamgartner. She married her high school sweetheart, Angus Udell Blackham, on June 5, 1946, in the Salt Lake City Temple. They are the parents of 12 children—6 by birth and 6 by marriage. Patricia (Merlin) Fish of American Fork, UT; Kathie (Alfred) Adams of Lindon, UT; Valerie (Douglas) Whitaker of Provo, UT; Udell (Pheobe) Blackham of Alpine, UT; Laurel (Dru) Nielsen of Fairfield, CA; and Marshall (Nikki) Blackham of Houston, TX. Their family to date includes 48 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.

Lulie’s life is an example of true discipleship. She loves the Savior and served faithfully in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many capacities. She blessed the lives of countless individuals through her insightful gospel instruction, her tireless work in genealogy, her wisdom, counsel and love. Her hospitality, gardening, quilting, and pie-making skills are legendary. She and Gus served two missions in the Philippines. Their love for the people there led them to establish the Livelihood Assistance Foundation, an organization that promotes self-reliance by teaching life and employment skills.
She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister-in-law, Mary Blackham Hall, and is survived by her husband, a brother Lee (Maxine) Bamgartner, a brother-in-law Sam (Sybelle) Blackham, and her entire posterity.

Special thanks go out to the dedicated professionals at the Central Utah Clinic, the UVRMC, and the many friends who cared for her during her illness.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, June 23 at the LDS chapel at 1650 South 200 East in Orem. There will be a viewing at the Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary, 495 South State St. in Orem on Sunday, June 22 from 6-8pm, and at the chapel on Monday prior to the service from 10-10:45 am. Interment will be in the Orem City Cemetery.

Because of her love and commitment to the people of the Philippines, the family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Livelihood Assistance Foundation, 1632 S. 200 E., Orem UT 84058.

Lulie's New Journey

This morning (Tuesday, June 17, 2008) at 12:46 a.m., after steady, peaceful, but increasingly more shallow breathing, Mom took a deep breath, opened one eye and passed away peacefully. She was surrounded by Gus, Udell, Pat, Kathie, Valerie and Doug. Funeral arrangements are still being finalized, but we are planning to have the funeral on Monday, June 23rd at 11:00 a.m.

June 16

Mom didn't open her eyes at all yesterday, but did squeeze them a couple of times in response to something that was said to her. Many family members came by yesterday and at times we were a bit loud. Once again delightful conversation and family unity filled mom and dad's home with them in the center of it.

Mom's breathing is getting more shallow. Her pulse is still fluctuating. She seems to be resting comfortably. We are trying to make sure she is comfortable but we are novices at it. We wish Nurse Laurel was here to teach us how to be perfect nurses.

If you have questions call the house or drop me an e-mail.
Valerie

June 15

Dear Family,
Mom had a really good day on Saturday. She slept soundly and fairly still (not too much leg moving) through the night. Her breathing was even with no obstruction. She had a steady stream of company all day and did really well with it. She was calm and relaxed. Pretty much all of the family in the area came by and she seemed very happy to have them here. Occasionally she was able to open her eyes and respond with a smile or a bllink even though she was unable to talk. Her grandkids and great grandkids circled her bed and sang some Primary songs to her. Later in the afternoon we were unable to get her to open her eyes. She has been less and less responsive but she seems comfortable and her breathing is even. She continues to lose excess fluid in her legs and feet and I know that that makes her feel better. Two different hospice workers came during the day--one in the morning who bathed her and the other one who is a nurse took some vitals and talked with us about medical things and what we might expect mom to do over the next couple of days.
Saturday was a very sweet day with loved ones about and all expressing their love and tender feelings for Mom. At bedtime, Mom was sleeping very soundly. Mom had a very restful sleep all through the night. Her breathing now is shallow and she is very still--only an occasional twitch of the feet. We are treating her with tylenol and she seems to have had no fever. This morning (Sunday) she couldn't open her eyes when we tried to wake her up, but she did seem to squeeze her eyes tight a few times when we tried to get her to respond. It seems that she still can wake up enough for a few moments to be aware of what is going on or who is here even though her only response can be the slight squeezing of the eyes. Dad is spending much of the time sitting in the recliner next to Mom and holding her hand. He is very happy to be able to do that. Everybody is glad to be home.
Happy Fathers Day to all you dads.
We will keep you updated.
Kathie

June 14

Dear Family,
As we indicated in a very short message sent out by Scott W. yesterday, we have brought Mom/Grandma home. Mom has had a rash all over her body the whole time she was in the hospital. It looked like a really bad case of chicken pox. At first the doctors thought it was a reaction to one of the antibiotics, then that it was related to the yeast fungus in her blood, but it didn't really seem to improve. The doctors finally decided to do a biopsy of one of the sores and we have been waiting for the results for about a week. Yesterday we finally got the results of the culture and it was not good news. The findings were that the rash is caused from the leukemia itself and that the leukemia is running rampant throughout her body and has invaded the tissues as well as the blood. The rash is very rare and is called (by some) leukemia cutis, which means infiltration of the skin. Yesterday we informed you that mom had no chance of recovery and because of that we all knew that Mom would
want to be in her own home for these last few days, Dad wants to be by her side, holding her hand, through all of this.
Mom was transported home in an ambulance at around 8:00 p.m. and is situated in a hospital bed in the family room. We met with the hospice nurse around the dining room table and discussed what we would need to do to care for mom and some of the things to expect. He mentioned that in his past experience, most patients with the same breathing pattern as mom's current breathing pattern, usually passed away within 48 hours. FYI, mom didn't lose any of the hair she grew back after the first chemo and so she has short, grey hair. She isn't wearing a hat or wig. The rash (red dots and splotches) is still manifest over her entire body. She has had quite a bit of edema in her body. Mom is not able to talk or eat or get out of the bed. Periodi
cally, she opens her eyes and seems aware of people and her surroundings. Yesterday, she even managed a few smiles. Her breathing is often labored and erratic. Thank you for your love and support for grandma and grandpa.

With love,
Kathie and Valerie

June 13

The results have come back from Grandma's biopsy and they were told that there is no chance of recovery from her current condition. They are going to take Grandma home tonight and put her under hospice care. Valerie will get out more details later this evening.

June 12

Mom is more unresponsive today. It is very hard for her to stay awake for longer than a couple of minutes. Her breathing is more labored. Kathie was shown mom's chest x-ray and it still shows fluid in the lower portion of her lungs. They are going to increase the pressure on her bipap machine to help her breathing be easier. For the past few days mom has only been on the bipap machine during the night, but they plan on putting her on it again a few times during the day to help her get the deep breaths that she needs. We keep watching for her neutrophil count to go up, but again today it was still at .1. Yesterday afternoon I was able to read some more messages to her that people have sent and some more of your memories and tributes. I know she liked that. She didn't have much to say, but she kept smiling.

Be like Lulie today and keep smiling!

Val