Eleanor L. Blish
Eleanor Louise Moseman Blish, a lifetime resident of Fleischmanns, died September 30, 2021 at home at the age of 93. Eleanor was born on the Moseman family farm off Streeter Hill Road, on April 13, 1928 to Edgar Moseman (a veteran of WWI) and Josephine Eignor Moseman. On the farm, Eleanor was instilled with her life-long values of love of God, family and farm. Brought up during the Great Depression of the 1930s, thriftiness became an ingrained trait.
Eleanor started school at Portertown, a one-room school house at the intersection of Breezy Hill Road and County Route 37, of which only the foundation remains today. She had fond memories of the teacher, Leslie Streeter, who boarded nearby. The school was heated by wood and coal, and pupils took turns carrying water. Maximum enrollment was 15.
The Moseman sisters, Eleanor and Margaret, lived farthest from the school. In fine weather they walked home in the afternoon. Sometimes they rode with their father in the morning when he took milk by truck to Halcott Creamery. In bad weather they might ride both ways on a horse-drawn sleigh.
Eleanor graduated in a class of 10 from Fleischmanns High School in 1945. (The class motto was “In the mountains of truth you never climb in vain.”) In September 1946 she completed a course of training for medical assistants at the Mandl School for Medical Assistants in New York City, residing near Central Park.
After graduation, she returned to Fleischmanns and worked in Margaretville Memorial Hospital where she met Herbert Blish, who was painting a room in the X-ray department. They married on April 13, 1954 (her 26th birthday). She worked for Doctors Weinberg and Rottkov in Fleischmanns while the couple saved money to build their own home on Scudder Road, where they have lived since about 1957. As the family grew, she devoted herself entirely to home and family. The couple always supported the children to reach their full potential.
Eleanor always enjoyed poetry and devotional literature and loved God’s good creation, including animals of all kinds, especially her beloved Corgi dogs. She loved plants, including her flower gardens and a large family vegetable garden, and the hills among which she lived her life. She greatly valued friendships made and strengthened in the Ladies’ Home Demonstration and the church community.
She is survived by her husband, Herbert Blish, daughters Susan Blish (Rutland, VT) and Mary Ellen Stewart (Ithaca, NY), son John Blish of Fleischmanns, and 2 grandsons, Ben Stewart (Rochester) and Patrick Blish (Fleischmanns).
Calling hours are 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 5th at Hynes Funeral Home, followed by an 11:00 service at the Halcott Center Church and interment at the Halcott Center cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Heart of Catskills Human Society or Helios Hospice.