Photos of James Louis Blilie,
16-Nov-1923 to 26-Mar-2010
All images are copyright © James W. Blilie, 1984 through 2009, All rights reserved
Back to James L. Blilie Index Page
1940s and 1950s Photos by James L Blilie
These are scans of a good portion of the photos we have of my father, James L Blilie.
My Dad passed away the night of 26-Mar-2010. He had a long and interesting life,
full of family love, wide interests, travel, and many joys.
* * * * * * *
James Louis Blilie, 86, passed away the night of 26-Mar-2010. He is survived by his wife of 51 years,
Harriet (Ventress) Blilie and three sons, Charles (wife Shelley and daughter Kirsten), James (wife Phyllis
and sons Joe and Jamie), and Jon (wife Bobbi and son Kai). He was a loving father and husband. He was
born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota where he graduated from Wilson High School, the grandson of
immigrants from Norway. He flew a full tour of 35 missions as a USAAF Lieutenant serving as navigator
and bombardier in B-24s over Germany and occupied France in late 1944 as part of the 8th Air Force
out of East Anglia, United Kingdom. He graduated in 1948 from the University of Minnesota with a degree
in electrical engineering. He served 21 years in the Air Force, serving in, among other places, Manila the
Philippines, Thule Greenland, Japan, and many bases in the USA. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from
the Air Force in 1969, before having another career with UNISYS (was Sperry Univac) as a computer
engineer and technical writer. He was a World War II veteran, Korean War veteran, and a Vietnam-Era
veteran. He was a talented painter, photographer, and writer. He also enjoyed amateur radio (HAM)
building his own radio sets, art, travel, literature, politics, and his family. He is sorely missed.
Visitation was held, 4pm – 7pm Tuesday 30-Mar-2010, at the Wulff Funeral Home 1485 White Bear Avenue,
St. Paul, MN 55106, 651-776-1555
Funeral services were held at 11:00 am, Wednesday 31-Mar-2010, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 1616
W. Olive St., Stillwater, Minnesota, 651-439-5704, visitation was held for one hour prior to the service.
* * * * * * *
From my cousin Jan Bendiksen in Sweden. Jan is the one that found all of our family information
in Norway and who made it possible for me to visit our cousins at Bliligaard. In fact, about a week
before I got to Bliligaard, I received a letter from Jan with the Narum's phone number:
In May 1988 I was in Minneapolis on a business trip. I knew from my mother that there was a chance of
finding distant relatives on the Haanes branch of our family in the Minneapolis area. The family name to
look for was Blilie. I was lucky, the first Blilie name I picked from the telephone directory was your father.
We met, and I was invited home to Jim and Harriet and had a wonderful time together with them. This was
the beginning of a period of exchanging information about relatives in both Norway and the US. Jim sent
me some interesting black and white photos, and I was able to trace the Blilie branch of your family in Norway.
We met once more in Minneapolis in 1995 and continued to keep in touch by mail for several years. I was
always looking forward to the family news letters from Jim. It now feels sad that there will be no more such
letters from him.
* * * * * * *
There's a bit of a family resemblance between my Dad and Jamie:
Back to James L. Blilie Index Page
1940s and 1950s Photos by James L Blilie
Korea and the Philippines 1952-53
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 1927 or 1928, aged 4 or 5 | Around 1930 | Around 1933 | Around 1934 | Maybe 1934 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 1937, aged 14 | High School Graduation Portrait, 1941 | 1942 or 9143 | Kearns Utah, 1943 | Tempe AZ, 1943 or 1944 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Patch B-24 Crew: 30 June, 1944, training in San Antonio TX before deploying to East Anglia and bombing Germany.
Front: L-R: Richard M. Jensen; Bombardier, James L. Blilie Navigator; Victor H. Frohberg, Co-pilot; Douglas A. Patch, Pilot Back: L-R: Leon Bennett; Flight Engineer & Top Turret Gunner; Richard Liverle, Left Waist Gunner; Douglas Keister, Nose Turret Gunner; Emerson C. Roth, Radio Operator; Willy Vaughn, Right Waist Gunner; Frank Santo, Tail Turret Gunner |
1944, Lieutenant in the USAAF | 1948, University of Minnesota placement office resume | 1950 or 1952 | 1950 refresher course in navigation after being called back to active duty, Westover, MA AFB |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 1950, Frankfurt am Main, Germany | 1951 Thule Greenland | 1951 | 1952, C124, Tachikawa Japan | Taegu Korea, 1952 or 1953 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 1952 USAF C-47 (DC-3) | 1954 at Moses Lake (WA) AFB, pointing to Eglin AFB in Florida | 1955 - 308 Okaloosa Ave., Valparaiso, FL | 31-Jan-1955 | John Kasper, center, James Blilie, right, Japan, 1950s |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Bill Jackson, Jim Wetzel, James Blilie, Neuvo Laredo, MX, 1956 or 1957 | 1956 Laredo TX | 1957, Julie Blilie at 308 Okaloosa Ave, Valparaiso, FL | James Louis Blilie, Harriet Elizabeth Blilie, 1958 | James Louis Blilie, Harriet Elizabeth Blilie, Phi Mu Dance Spring 1958 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
James Louis Blilie, Harriet Elizabeth Blilie, 30-Jun-1958 |
James Louis Blilie, Harriet Elizabeth Blilie, 30-Jun-1958 |
James Louis Blilie, Harriet Elizabeth Blilie, 30-Jun-1958 |
James Louis Blilie, Harriet Elizabeth Blilie, 30-Jun-1958 |
James Louis Blilie, Harriet Elizabeth Blilie, 30-Jun-1958 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
30-Jun-1958: Walt Spence, Ann Spence, Harriet Blilie, James Blilie, Mark Garner, unknown |
James and Harriet Blilie July 1958, Monterey MX |
1959 or 1960, with Charlie |
1959 or 1960; 707 Nita Ave Canoga Park, CA |
circa 1960, Los Angeles, CA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Early 1960 |
1960 Lake Tahoe with Charlie |
Lake Tahoe, 1960 |
circa 1960 |
Nov 1960 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1960 |
Sep 1960 his work colleagues having some fun on him |
May 1961 |
5-Nov-1961 with me and Charlie |
5-Nov-1961 with me and Charlie |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
707 Nita Ave, Canoga Park, CA |
With Julie, me, and Charlie, Nov 1962 |
1962 |
1962 with John Kasper |
1962 with John Kasper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1962 with Warren Herman's big northern at Mitchell Lake, MN |
1964 with Charlie and me, Moosehead Lake, ME |
1964 Charlie Blilie, Julie Blilie, James W Blilie |
1964: Julie Blilie holding her grand daughter Julie Blilie |
Oct 1965 with Jon |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 1965 |
Oct 1965 |
With Julie 1965 |
Fall 1967 or 1968 |
1968, Chelmsford, MA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1969 at Uncle Bert's farm near Glenwood City, WI |
1970 at Mitchell Lake with Charlie |
May 1971 at Mitchell Lake: leveling the trailer |
Large work group at Univac, 1972, standing 2nd from right |
1973 with oak stump at Mitchell Lake |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 1973 |
Dec 1974 |
family July 4 1976 |
6-Feb-1976 |
Work group, March 1977 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dec 1980 |
Oct 1980, Goose Lake MN |
May 1981 with self-portrait |
family group, 1980 |
1982, Mitchell Lake cabin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24-Mar-1983 |
1983 |
24-Mar-1983 with John Kasper |
Spring 1983 |
Christmas 1984 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25-Nov-1986, retirement lunch at UNIVAC |
25-Nov-1986, retirement lunch at UNIVAC, with Harriet Blilie |
Sep 1986, summit of Eagle Mtn, MN |
Me, Julie, Mom, Pater, summit of Eagle Mtn, MN (highest point in MN) Sep-1986 |
Eagle Mtn trail, Sep-1986 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sep-1986 |
10-Sep-1988 at Jon and Bobbi's wedding, Minneapolis, MN |
Jul-1989 at Cambridge, MN airport, taken by Shep Williams |
Pater, Julie, Mom, Vallea Richards, 1989 |
With Martin Kelly, Sep-1989 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1990 |
1991: Anita McKinney, Vallea Richards, Joe (Vallea's friend), Winnie Peterson, Warren Peterson, James Blilie |
Nov 1991 |
On his Bollens tractor, Dec, 1991 |
1991, LEA Awards Banquet, with guest speaker Alan Keyes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 1991 |
Summer 1992 |
Jan 1992: Julie Blilie, Lorraine Polanek, Alex Polanek, Harriet Blilie, James L Blilie, Florence, SC |
1995 |
Dec 1996, Lino Lakes, MN |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fall 1997 (Julie passed away 4-Oct-1997) |
Oct 1997, William O'Brien St Park, MN |
1991 |
1998 |
1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1991 |
Nov 1998 |
Nov 1998 |
Oct 1998 |
With Roumaine and Warren Herman, Oct-1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct-1999 at Jon's MBA graduation party, White Bear Lake, MN |
Aug 2000 at Mt. Rainier NP, Washington with me |
Aug 2000 at Mt. Rainier NP, Washington with Mom |
Christmas 2000, Lino Lakes, MN |
On Jim Weztel's boat Ganna, near Pensacola, FL, Jun 2001 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On Jim Weztel's boat Ganna, near Pensacola, FL, Jun 2001 |
Aug 2001 at Kurt Harrington's house for his daughter's graduation party |
Pater's 79th birthday party, Nov 2002, Lino Lakes, MN |
Sep 2002 with Ann Spence, Kozlak's restaurant |
May 2002 at Mitchell Lake |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
May 2002 at the "New Blilie Cabin" at Mitchell Lake, MN |
Nov 2002 with Kai Alexander Blilie |
Spring 2002 |
With Jon and Kai, Nov 2002 |
With Kai, Oct-2003 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 2001 at White Salmon | 2001 at White Salmon | 2001 at White Salmon: Mom, me, Pater, Anne Gengler, Steve Mason at Jeanne and Steve's cabin | Nov 2002 - Just before our wedding | Nov 2002 - Just before our wedding |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Nov 2002 - Just before our wedding | Mar 2004 - with newborn Jamie | Mar 2004 - with me and a newborn Jamie | Jun 2005 - with me and Jamie | Mar 2006 - with me and Jamie |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Mar 2006 - with Mom, Phyllis and Joe |
Family portrait, Sep-2006 (by Artistic Photography) |
Sep-2006 (by Artistic Photography) |
Sep-2006: With their children (by Artistic Photography) |
Sep-2006: With their grandchildren (by Artistic Photography) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Thanksgiving dinner 2006 | Winter 2006 with Phyllis, Jamie, and Mom | Jamie's birthday 2007 | Easter 2007 | Christmas 2007 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Mar 2008 | 50th wedding anniversary party, July 2008, Oak Park Heights, MN | Oct 2008 | Oct 2008 | Pater's 85th birthday: 16-Nov-2008 |
 |
 |
|
|
 
|
| May 2009 with Jamie | 23-Sep-2009 at the Arbor in Boutwell's Landing | 25-Oct-2009 | 14-Nov-2009, at his 86th birthday party | 14-Nov-2009, at his 86th birthday party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24-Mar-2010 |
25-Mar-2010, with Jamie |
His funeral, 31-Mar-2010 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Stillwater |
Military honor guard at his graveside service at Morningside Memorial Gardens, Coon Rapids, MN |
His obituaries from the Pioneer Press and Star Tribune |
Click HERE for photos my Dad took during WWII bombing missions over Germany and Occupied France in late 1944 |
Click HERE for some of my Dad's photos from the late 1940s and very early 1950s |
Click HERE for photos of my Dad's time in Frankfurt in 1951 |
Click HERE for photos of my Dad's time in the Arctic in 1951 and 1952
|
Click HERE for photos of my Dad's time in Japan, 1952-53 |
Click HERE for my Dad's photos of Korea and the Philippines, 1952-53 |
|
Click HERE for photos of my Dad's time stationed at Moses Lake, Washington, 1953-54 |
Click HERE for photos of my Dad's time stationed at Eglin AFB, Florida, 1955-58 |
Back to James L. Blilie Index Page
1940s and 1950s Photos by James L Blilie
Korea and the Philippines 1952-53
Background image is family group, Sep-2006
Last updated: 25-Sep-2010
