Kalas Funeral Home & Crematory

Marjie Beatty Blanco, 79, a resident of Annapolis, MD, passed away on Monday, August 22 at her home.  Born on January 6, 1943 in Detroit, MI to the late P.C. and Adele Traxler Beatty, Marjie was the youngest of their four children. She graduated from Grosse Pointe High School in 1960 and from Michigan State University where she earned a BA in 1964 and MA in 1966. While at Michigan State she met her husband, Frank, and they were married in 1965 when they were both in graduate school.

Marjie had two rewarding and successful careers in her life, and she was tremendously proud of the contributions she made to each one. The first as a Professor of French and English as a Second Language at Prince George’s Community College and the second as an Intelligence Analyst at NSA. In the classroom, she prided herself with the fact that by the second day of a new class, she knew the name of each of her students. As an analyst, she took pride in mastering whatever task she was given, and always told it like it was. Not only was she smart, she was never shy about offering her professional opinion. She approached every task with grace and determination.

She was a wife, mother, grandmother, second mother to her children’s friends, friend, mentor, confidant, colleague, and team mate. In all of these roles, she was loving, thoughtful, warm, sensitive, caring, trusted, and sympathetic. Her greatest love was spending time with her family. She particularly enjoyed Christmas family gatherings and would spend hours putting together just the right stocking for each family member with items she had been gathering near and far throughout the year. As a chocoholic, she made sure that each stocking had at least one chocolate Santa.

She was well-versed on many subjects and would often offer an opinion or advice. During her children’s growing years, she recognized the need to educate herself about medical issues affecting her children. Over the years she expanded her medical knowledge and some friends affectionately called her “Dr. Blanco.” The ultimate compliment was when one of her medical friends recently asked her to be a reviewer for a book he was writing on infectious diseases.

Marjie loved languages and was fluent in French and in Spanish. She loved reading historical fiction, thrillers and spy novels, and kept up to date on national and international events in any way she possibly could. During the pandemic she became “Miss Marjie” to her granddaughter Alyx, helping her with her grade school assignments while Alyx was virtual learning for two years.

Marjie and Frank travelled frequently, visiting 6 of the 7 continents and taking over 40 river and ocean cruises. They made wonderful friends on all of their travels and visited them wherever in the world they lived. Her favorite places were islands, particularly Hilton Head, Maui, Bermuda and Santorini. But her happy place was the condo they bought in the north of Spain overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. She loved sitting and reading at the window looking out over the ocean and loved going down to the beach and just relaxing. And she dearly valued being able to get together with family and friends and enjoying the food and culture of that region of Spain. Friends were encouraged to come visit.

Marjie is survived by her husband and best friend, Frank Blanco; her children, Steven (Yvette) Blanco and Cristina (Kat) Blanco; her grandchildren, Liam and Alyx; her sister, Jackie Elliott and a number of nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her twin brothers, Ronald and Robert Beatty and her brother-in-law, Butch Elliott.

A celebration of her wonderful life will be held Sunday, January 8th. Please contact Frank Blanco, ffblanco@comcast.net for specific details.

Please remember Marjie by making a donation in her name to the <a href="https://donate3.cancer.org/?campaign=default&lang=en">American Cancer Society</a>, the <a href="https://action.lung.org/site/Donation2?df_id=31272&mfc_pref=T&31272.donation=form1&_ga=2.213067351.2143318540.1595852598-2043253697.1583762061">American Lung Association</a>, <a href="https://givingto.msu.edu/gift/?sid=2167">Michigan State University Honors College</a> or your favorite charitable cause. 

Condolences may be made by using the Memories tab on this page.

Marjorie Ann Beatty Blanco

Marjorie Ann Beatty Blanco

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