Mildred Mckibben Blomberg

Mildred Zane (McKibben) Blomberg, former president of the Orleans Parish School Board in New Orleans, La., passed away March 17, 2015, in Portland, Oregon, at the age of 95. The daughter of Ivan and Hedrick (Carlson) McKibben, she was born August 16, 1919, in Dove Creek, Colorado, and moved to Denver as a child. She attended Denver University where she studied business. She married Charles Reinhold Blomberg in 1941 and moved to New Orleans in 1948 when Charles, a petroleum engineer, took a job with Chevron Oil. She worked for 15 years as an administrative assistant at Trinity Episcopal School in New Orleans.

Mildred was active with the League of Women Voters on educational issues and her expertise earned her a gubernatorial appointment in 1967 to fill a vacant seat on the Orleans Parish School Board. She won a full term in a hotly contested election in 1970, and served as president of the board for several years. In this position, she championed vocational education, school desegregation, fiscal responsibility, and equality for women.

Charles' career took them to London and Aberdeen, Scotland, for several years into the early 1980s. From their base in Great Britain they travelled extensively in Europe and Russia. After Charles retired they moved back to their native Colorado and continued to travel - from fearsome jeep trails in the Rocky Mountains to China.

Charles and Mildred moved to Portland in 2003 to be closer to their eldest daughter, Karen Shawcross, and their grandson Herbert G. Jahncke III and his family. As always, Millie created a beautiful home and garden. She and Chuck had a circle of lifelong friends that she continued to maintain by long distance. She and Charles were married for 69 years, until Charles' death in 2011.

Mildred had been seriously ill for nearly a year with late-stage kidney disease but, true to form, she defied doctors' expectations and lived for many months longer than their initial prognosis. She enjoyed that time with her family and visits from her son Marty's dog, Percy. She passed away peacefully with family by her side. She is survived by her children, Karen B. Shawcross and Charles M. Blomberg, both of Portland, and Marcia C. Blomberg of Massachusetts; grandchildren Lauren Leonard of Covington, LA, Herbert G. Jahncke III of Portland, and Christopher C. Jahncke of Los Angeles, CA; five great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. Charles was a WWII veteran and is inured at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, where Mildred will join him. She preferred no services be held, but designated contributions to The Nature Conservancy, 4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203-1606.