Blanche B. Bohatka, 99, of Rock Island, died Saturday, January 31, 2015 at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Rock Island. Cremation rites were accorded. A celebration of life service will be 11 a.m. Saturday, February 21 at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, Rock Island. Visitation will be from 10 - 11 a.m. at the church Saturday. Memorials may be made in care of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church or to Christian Care, both of Rock Island.

Blanche was born in Bellaire, Ohio on August 18, 1915, a daughter of Frank and Zdenka Seifert Chap. She married Stanley T. Bohatka on December 18, 1933 in Bellaire. He preceded her in death in 1999.

Blanche attended Augustana College in the early 1950's graduating with a degree in speech therapy. She went on to work as a speech therapist in the Moline and Rock Island public school systems for many years, retiring in 1969.

Blanche was a long-time volunteer in the community, beginning as a nurse's aide during WWII. She and Stanley delivered "Meals on Wheels" for eighteen years and volunteered at the Salvation Army's Christmas Clearance Bureau to make sure needy families received Christmas baskets. While she served as Stanley's caregiver at home from 1992 until his death, she continued to visit friends and church members who were in hospitals or nursing homes during his afternoon naps. She also brought dishes to church and helped serve lunches after funerals. Shortly after Stanley's death, she began volunteering at the After-School Program at church tutoring second-graders, at the Quad City Botanical Center as needed stuffing envelopes or helping take inventory in the gift shop, and at the hospital as a "dispatcher," which she continued to do until the week before her death. In addition to being a member of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, Blanche was a long-time member of the Black Hawk Hiking Club and a 50-year member of the Rock Island Women's Club. She loved spending time with her family, and she delighted in her garden.

Survivors include her daughters and sons-in-law, Arline and Jim Crowley, Princeton, Ill., Jeanie (Adams) and Richard Moses, Milan and Michele and Chuck Maki, Rock Island; son-in-law Gary Sackfield, Coal Valley; grandchildren, Steven (Ayami) Crowley, David (Carla) Crowley, Michael (Cindi) Daligee, Paul (Kim) Adams, Kathleen (Clifford) Miller, Denise (Bill) Byers and John Maki; numerous great and great-great grandchildren; and a niece, Gloria Ufkes (Chuck), Ocala, Fla.

Blanche was preceded in death by her husband; parents; daughter, Janice (Daligee) Sackfield; granddaughters, Christina Capps and Susan Daligee; son-in-law, Paul Adams; five brothers and three sisters.

Blanche's family wishes to thank the staff at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Rock Island Hospital and Hospice for their excellent care–and her wonderful doctors who enabled her to be active to the end.