Adelaide Annette Marquand

Adelaide Annette (Bledsoe) Marquand, age 97, passed away on July 25, 2020, at River Oaks Place in Lenoir City, Tennessee. She was born in Springfield, Illinois, on February 5, 1923, to the late Rupert A. Bledsoe and Jeanette H. (Lindsay) Bledsoe. After graduating from high school in Springfield, she enlisted as a WAVE to help in the war effort. During World War II, she was assigned to the cryptoanalysis unit (codebreaking) in Naval Intelligence in Washington D.C. Among other responsibilities, her unit provided the daily briefing paper from the Pentagon to the White House. During the war she met Harold Marquand, whom she married on May 21, 1945. They were married for 73 years, until his passing in 2018.

 After the war, Adelaide and Harold moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where both received business degrees from the University of Kansas. Adelaide also studied Russian and art. Relocating to Wichita, Kansas, Adelaide raised three children, and afterwards, earned a second degree in education, and taught fifth grade in Haysville, Kansas, for many years. Upon retirement, Adelaide and Harold moved to Knoxville. Together they enjoyed traveling, both domestically and world-wide. She was predeceased by her parents, Rupert and Jeanette Bledsoe, and her brothers, Rupert and Lindsay Bledsoe. She is survived by son, Brent R. Marquand and wife Karen, of Knoxville, daughter Janette M. Pacitti and husband Tony, of Tellico Village, and son, Wesley L. Marquand and wife Michelle, of Gastonia, North Carolina. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Zachary Marquand and wife Catherine, Chelsea Dickall and husband Kyle, Trevor Marquand, Miranda Marquand, Sydney Marquand, and Bailey Marquand, and two great grandchildren Elliot Nash Marquand and Livia Jane Dickall. Mrs. Marquand and her late husband Harold Marquand, who was also a WWII veteran, will be interred with military honors in the Pleasant Forest Cemetery in Farragut, Tennessee. The family of Adelaide Marquand wishes to give special thanks to Amedisys and the staff of River Oaks Place for their kind and devoted care during Adelaide’s time there.