Obituary
Sarah Ann Gray, daughter of Arthur Odell Gray and Eloise Earle Leonard, was born in Columbiana, Alabama, on June 29 1931. Her family moved frequently between Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan during her youth. She graduated from Lansing Eastern and shortly after married George Washburn with whom she had five children, Lexa, Sherry, Connie, Rick, and Kathy.
Ann was the anchor of her family. Her children benefitted from her sewing skills which she continued to use throughout her life. She used her practical business skills to advance her career ending with the position of Supervisor of the Print Shop for the Michigan House of Representatives. A woman of style and grace, she was always professionally and fashionably dressed.
For the last 45 years of her life, she was married to Orlo Blake, the love of her life and her of his. Sharing a mutual love of boating and adventure, they explored the Great Lakes and, after their retirements, the Atlantic to Florida where they settled in Bradenton, Florida. Orlo and Ann took their mutual skills he as captain and she as chef, to sail yachts in the tropical seas of the Caribbean and of the Gulf of Mexico. Ann was active in the Power Squadron in Bradenton and became commander of the organization. With their motor home, Orlo and Ann explored throughout America and Mexico in their later years.
She is survived by her husband, five children, four stepchildren and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.