| Parents: |
William R. Blades Margaret Mary Balder |
|
| Notes: | At the time of the Apr. 17, 1930 federal census, R. M. was 6 months old and living with her parents, Margaret (age 21 years) and W. R. Blades (age 45 years), in the home they |
| rented for $10/month located at Snoqualimie Falls, Warren, King, Washington. Her father was working as a high rigger in a lumber mill. The family did not own a radio.
On February 26, 1932 water was running heavily on the roads in north central Washington, but they were all open except Blewett Pass. Rain fell steadily in Wenatchee all morning. Severe flood conditions were forecast in Snohomish county, north of Seattle. The Sultan river, tributary of the Skykomish, rose six feet in eight hours the previous day and was steadily approaching flood stage. The Snohomish and Stillaguamish rivers were also rising. Rains were continuing and the higher temperatures melted much snow on the lower levels of the Cascade foothills. The Washington State Highway Patrol reported that the flood damage was the most serious in years. Despite the heavy rain of the previous two days, Seattle still lacked two inches of normal rainfall from January 1 to that date, due to a number of clear, dry days. Unbeknownst to local residents at the time, logging debris began to clog a culvert installed by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railway during the construction of a bridge beneath a 175-foot berm over Boetzke Creek designed to carry runoff from the mountainside through to Boxley Creek. The growing obstruction created an artificial dam that would burst under enormous water pressure from the torrential rain and snowmelt. It was under these conditions that a torrent of icy water and debris-filled mud swept away part of the little community of Edgewick, crushing to death Rose Mary, along with her baby sister Josephine, mother Margaret, maternal grandmother Mary Balder, and three neighbors in a snowslide that engulfed their homes at Edgewick, King, Washington. The two little sisters and their mother were found dead among the logging debris hundreds of yards down Boxley Creek. The remains of their grandmother weren't recovered for a week. Rose Mary was 2 years and 5 months old. |
| Ancestry: | The Balder Line |
| The Johann "Hans" Kempa Line | |
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