The Blaine Library building project has received a significant financial donation from the estate of an avid reader and learner. Earlier this fall, the Ronald Cyr Estate made a $19,100 gift to the Whatcom County Library Foundation’s Blaine Library Endowment Fund. The gift was made via the Whatcom Community Foundation.
Cyr’s estate previously donated $10,000 to the Blaine Library building fund in spring 2020. Whatcom County Library System, Friends of the Blaine Library and the City of Blaine are working together to one day build a new library for the community. The donations from Cyr’s estate will support construction of the new building.
“We are extremely grateful to Mr. Cyr for his generous support of the Blaine Library,” says WCLS Executive Director Christine Perkins. “This gift is a wonderful legacy for his life of exploration and learning.”
Renald “Frenchie” (also known as Ronald or Ron) Cyr died March 20, 2019, in Bellingham. He was 81. His obituary reads: “Ron enjoyed a career as a lineman, working from California to Alaska. During retirement, he enjoyed gardening and sharing the fruits of his labor, reading non-fiction books, and hiking the mountains of Whatcom and Skagit counties. He was a master gardener and loved to share his knowledge, flowers and vegetables, ensuring the senior center and care center always had plenty.”
Former Blaine Library Manager Debby Farmer says all the staff knew Cyr, who came to the library nearly every day. “He would find a quiet spot and work on the crossroad puzzle in the newspaper,” Farmer recalls. Cyr was also involved in the Blaine Senior Center where he was known as “Frenchie” and could be found enjoying puzzles, crosswords and sudoku.
To learn more about the Blaine Library project, please visit wcls.org/blaine. To learn more about the Whatcom County Library Foundation, visit wcls.org/library-foundation.