BLOSSOM, Glenn Frank

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Sunday, February 12, 2012 Glenn Frank Blossom, 84, of Prescott, Ariz., born Jan. 5, 1928, in Madison, Wis., passed away Feb. 10, 2012. Services will be 11 a.m. Feb. 14, 2012, at First church of the Nazarene in Prescott, Ariz. Arrangements by Heritage Memory Mortuary. ~~~~~~~~~ The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Glenn Frank Blossom January 5, 1928 - February 10, 2012 Glenn Blossom died on Feb. 10, 2012, in Prescott, Ariz., from complications related to Parkinson's disease. Glenn was born on Jan. 5, 1928, in Madison, Wis., the youngest of the four children of Frank Lewis Blossom, a salesman, and Marie (Samuelson) Blossom. In 1944, Glenn's family moved from Wisconsin to Pasadena, Calif., and he earned his high school diploma from Pasadena Junior College in 1945. After taking college courses for one year, he enlisted in the United States Army, served 17 months and was honorably discharged on March 12, 1948. He then re-enrolled at Pasadena Junior College and earned an associate of arts degree in 1949. He transferred to the University of Southern California, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in public administration in 1952. Between 1952 and 1958, Glenn worked as a city planner in Oakland, Calif. In 1958, while attending a Memorial Day picnic at the home of friends, he met Helen LaVerne Englund, a recent Midwestern transplant to California. One week later, he asked her to marry him. Helen turned down his marriage proposal, and Glenn quit his job to embark on a four-month European tour, sending her a postcard nearly every day. On his return to California, he dedicated himself to courting Helen in his new Mercedes, purchased at the factory in Germany. They married on Sept. 12, 1959. After short stints in the planning departments of the cities of Montebello and Santa Fe Springs, Calif., Glenn was named City Planning Associate in the Los Angeles Department of City Planning in 1961. He was quickly promoted and was finally named City Planning Officer in 1966. In 1969, after 10 years of part-time study, Glenn earned a Master of Science degree in city and regional planning from the University of Southern California. By the 1980s, Glenn supervised 57 professional planners in two divisions of the Los Angeles Planning Department. After he retired in 1989, he immediately began working again, this time as a consultant for the Southern California Association of Governments. After a second retirement in 1996, he and Helen moved to Prescott, Ariz. Glenn's commitment to Jesus Christ was central to his life. He was raised in Pentecostal churches, and after marrying, he and Helen joined the First Assembly of God of Long Beach, Calif. (later renamed Christian Life Church), where Glenn was active as an usher, a trustee, a deacon and a chairman of the pulpit search committee. In 2002, he and Helen began attending the First Church of the Nazarene in Prescott. Glenn was widely appreciated for his calm demeanor, sound judgment and sterling integrity. He refused to say an unkind word about any person and was generous in giving. Glenn is survived by Helen, his beloved wife of 52 years, of Prescott; his elder brother Lewis Milton Blossom of Littleton, Colo.; his elder son Craig Samuelson Blossom and daughter-in-law Rebecca Sue (Gravell) Blossom of Noblesville, Ind.; his younger son Jay Stanlee Frank Blossom of Philadelphia; his grandson Trevor Englund Blossom, a student at Indiana University; and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service was Feb. 14, 2012, at the First Church of the Nazarene in Prescott. Interment of ashes will take place on June 23, 2012, at Evergreen Cemetery in Alexandria, Minn. Memorial gifts may be made to the Good Samaritan Society - Prescott Village, 1030 Scott Drive, Prescott, AZ 86301. Mortuary services were provided by Heritage Memory Mortuary, 131 Grove Avenue, Prescott, AZ 86301. Information provided by survivors.