Fearless Females ~ Church Service

Loren C. and Blanche Dunn

Once again Lisa Alzo has brought back Fearless Females, the blogging prompt to celebrate National Women's History Month.

Today's prompt: 
March 10 — What role did religion play in your family? How did your female ancestors practice their faith? If they did not, why didn’t they? Did you have any female ancestors who served their churches in some capacity?

My maternal grandmother, Blanche T. Barker Piggott Dunn held many titles within the LDS organization. While still in high school she was the organist for Sunday School and MIA in St. Charles, Idaho, and just before she was married to my grandfather in 1933 she was Assistant Ward Organist. She also sang in the choir and was a Sunday School teacher to ten and twelve year olds for about ten years.

When grandma and grandpa were married they moved down the road to Bloomington. After she lost her husband to cancer, Blanche cleaned the church house for a while and continued working with the MIA and Sunday School. For as long as I can remember she was the organist for the Bloomington ward. When ever we were visiting on Sundays we went to her church and she would be playing the organ.

Bloomington LDS Chapel - 1962
Photographer: Philip J. Hart - Location: Bloomington, Idaho - Date: 1962

Blanche later met Loren C. Dunn and they were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1971. Together they served as officiators in the Logan, Utah Temple for 10 years.


In 1977 they served a mission in Little Rock, Arkansas. The following is a copy of a letter calling Blanche to that mission.

If memory serves me right, she lived in St. George, Utah for a while and worked at the temple there. I called mom to try and confirm this, but all I got was a voice mail.

Leslie Ann