Audria B. Tankard, 89, Had Strong Faith in God

Audria Blendina (Thomas) Tankard died on Friday, Nov. 17 at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston at the age of 89.

Mrs. Tankard was born in Newark, N.J., on Sept. 29, 1917. She was the only child of Charles Thomas and Ellen Scott Thomas, and the first grandchild on both sides of her family.

Mrs. Tankard and her parents moved to New York when she was five years of age. She was primarily educated in the Catholic school system. One of the schools she attended was St. Mark's School in New York city. This is a premiere Catholic school started by Catherine Drexel that was designed to prepare Native American and African American students for higher education.

While Mrs. Tankard lived in New York, she met and married George V. Tankard Sr. and together they bore and raised 10 children. In 1945, they moved to New Jersey, and remained there until 1961, when they moved to the Vineyard.

Mrs. Tankard's primary vocation was being a wife, mother and grandmother. She also was a communicant of Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Oak Bluffs. She also was one of the founders of the Martha's Vineyard Chapter of the NAACP.

Mrs. Tankard enjoyed working with the public as an outreach worker for the Oak Bluffs Elder Services, and also in a variety of sales positions in Boston, Hyannis and Martha's Vineyard.

Mrs. Tankard was an avid reader, and she enjoyed listening to music, knitting, crocheting, fishing, traveling, especially to Aruba, and playing bingo.

She was very influential in the lives of her children, grandchildren, and friends. Some of the greatest gifts Mrs. Tankard gave her family were a great strength of faith in God, strong morals, and love. She enjoyed entertaining and being entertained by her grandchildren; each member of her family was very special to her.

Survivors include nine of her 10 children: Reginald Tankard of Roselle, N.J., Shirley Robinson of Vineyard Haven, Merle Beaulieu of Oak Bluffs, Patricia Tankard of Brookline, Myrna Araujo of Vineyard Haven, Brenda Tankard of Brookline, Robert Tankard of Vineyard Haven, Audria L. Tankard of Brookline and Carol Giosmas of Oak Bluffs; and 29 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

She also was the mother of the late George V. Tankard Jr. of Oak Bluffs.

Her funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Oak Bluffs. Interment will follow in the Sacred Heart Cemetery.

Visiting hours are in the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, Oak Bluffs from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday.

Donations in her memory can be made to the Martha's Vineyard NAACP, P.O. Box 1513, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557, designated for the George V. Tankard Jr. Memorial Road Race; to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105; or to the Vineyard Nursing Association, Inc., P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.