, who was instrumental locally and nationally in for of people with , died Jan. 5 of ovarian cancer at age 65.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Jan. 31 at the , 1400 Lafayette St.
‘s interest in activism began with her eldest daughter, Heather, who was born with that affects muscle coordination and reflexes.
Her struggles to move Heather from the to a public school led her to meet . He was a powerhouse activist who worked to desegregate schools and liberate people who were disabled but otherwise healthy from the nursing homes where they were .
“I married a movement, not a man,” Molly Blank told longtime friend Pam Farrar when she married Wade Blank.
Molly Blank, who was active with the disabled-rights group Holistic Approaches to Independent Living, joined her husband at the and (Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) in the 1980s.
She became a passionate advocate for wheelchair-accessible buildings and transportation. She and her husband attended protests and demonstrations throughout the U.S., taking Heather and their two other children, Lincoln and Caitlin, along on actions.
“Molly Blank was a force of nature,” said another longtime friend, Yolanda Alem…n.
“She opened her home to all — stray cats, stray kids. The most powerful and deep-hearted words she ever said to me were ‘I would not trade one moment of loving for one moment of relief.’ This, after losing her son and husband and, later, her oldest daughter.”
In February 1993, the Blanks were on a trip in Baja California when Wade Blank saw Lincoln, age 8, struggling to escape a riptide. He tried to rescue his son, but both drowned. Molly Blank and her daughters watched helplessly from the beach.
In the wake of the drownings, Blank left her activism work and took a job at the Book Store. She was an ardent reader — “She has a lot of books, and she had ’em double-stacked,” Farrar said — and bequeathed much of her collection to the .
She is survived by daughter Caitlin Blank of Denver.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
Molly blank dies
Disabled rights activist Molly Blank, 65, died Jan. 5 of ovarian cancer.
