Blaine, Mariel Jean (Darnell) (1927–2001)

By Godfrey K. Sang

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Godfrey K. Sang is a historical researcher and writer with an interest in Adventist history. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Eastern Africa Baraton and a number of qualifications from other universities. He is a published author. He is the co-author of the book On the Wings of a Sparrow: How the Seventh-day Adventist Church Came to Western Kenya

First Published: October 21, 2024

Mariel Blaine was an American missionary nurse who served in various countries in Africa as a nursing supervisor and trainer. Her service extended to Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa.

Early Life

Mariel Jean Darnell was born on December 24, 1927, in Cottage Grove, Oregon, in the United States.1 She was the second of the two children of Ernest Roy Darnell (1891-1960) and Edith Emily Wheeler (1905-1986), also of Oregon.2 Jean Darnell trained to become a nurse qualifying in 1946. Mariel had an elder sister, Zelda Bernice Darnell (1923-1985).3 After completing her education, she began working in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Mission Work

Darnell began her missionary work when she accepted the call in 1953 to serve in the South East Africa Union Mission which, at that time, covered the areas of Nyasaland (now Malawi) and Rhodesia. She had initially been called to serve as a nurse at the Kendu Mission Hospital in Kenya Colony, East Africa.4 But then, in December 1953, the General Conference Committee voted to change her appointment from Kendu to Malamulo.5

On April 1, 1954, Mariel arrived in Cape Town on the same boat that carried missionaries Dr. M. H. Schaffner and his family, Ms. E. Gillham and Ms. T. Irvin, who were recruits for the mission field.6 Dr. Schaffner, his family, and Ms. Irvin were set to locate at Songa Mission in the Belgian Congo. Ms. Gillham was to go to Kirundu Mission, also in the Belgian Congo, while Darnell was to serve at the Malamulo Mission Hospital in the Nyasaland.

At the South East Africa Union Mission, A. W. Austen had just taken over from S. G. Maxwell as president of the Union. She began her ministry as a nursing supervisor at the Malamulo Hospital.7

Family

On May 30, 1956, Mariel Darnell married Dr. Cyril Delabere Blaine at Malamulo Mission Station in Nyasaland.8 Dr. Blaine (1928 – 2018) served as a staff doctor at Malamulo. He was born on May 4, 1928, in Los Angeles, California, the eldest of the three children of South African missionary doctor John Delabere Blaine (1904-1944) and Dorothy Irene Pelmulder (1901-1986).9 Dr. John D. Blaine and his American wife, Dorothy, moved to Scotland while Cyril was only an infant. They remained there long enough to welcome a second child, a son named Robert. They eventually relocated to South Africa, working mainly in Natal. Dr. John Blaine died suddenly in 1944 when Cyril was only 16. He left behind four children: Cyril, Robert, Michael, and Joy.

Cyril attended Helderberg, and in 1946, he joined the University of Cape Town and graduated with a medical degree in 1952. Dr. Blaine moved to Malamulo in 1954 to become a missionary.

The Blaines were blessed with a son, Roy Norman, born to them on March 4, 1957.10 Mariel served as a nursing sister alongside Margaret Johnson and Olive N. Gaughan in the Department of Supervisors of Clinical Service.11

Additional Missionary Service

Mrs. Blaine and her husband returned to the United States in 1959 after Dr. Blaine had been unwell for some time. They remained in the United States until 1965 when they returned to the Missions, this time to Kenya to serve under the East Africa Union.12 They were posted to the Kendu Hospital and later served at the Nairobi Surgery in the capital of Nairobi. Dr. Blaine applied for and received a practicing license from the Kenya Medical Practitioner’s and Dentist’s Board in Nairobi.13 After serving in Kenya for a while, they moved to Tanzania and served at the Heri Hospital.14 They returned to Kenya and remained there until 1971 when they returned to the United States.15 In 1971, the Blaines moved to Loma Linda University, where they continued to work. She worked here until her retirement and death.16

Retirement

After serving the Seventh-day Adventist denomination for several years as a missionary in Africa and working in the United States, Blaine retired in 1991 and, upon retirement, she settled in Loma Linda.17

Death and Legacy

Mariel Jean Blaine passed away on April 15, 2001, in Loma Linda, California, at the age of 73. She was laid to rest at the Silk Creek Cemetery in Oregon, United States.18 She was survived by her husband, Dr. Cyril Delamere Blaine, who passed away in 2018. She made significant contributions to the medical field as a nursing supervisor and by impacting the lives of local people through the medical mission.19

Sources

Clifford, H. E. “Focus On: The Medical Department.” Trans-Africa Division Outlook, February 15, 1966.

Clifford, F. G. “News Notes.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, April 15, 1954.

Eva, W. D. “Hither and Yon.” Southern Africa Division Outlook. October 15, 1957.

Eva, W. D. “Hither and Yon, Weddings.” Southern Africa Division Outlook. June 15, 1956.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LF4C-37Y,(accessed August 21, 2024.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LFCF-HKK, July 3, 2024.

https://library.llu.edu/blaine-mariel-jean-darnell-cyril-de-la-bere, July 3, 2024.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Notes

  1. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LFCF-HKK, accessed July 3, 2024.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Minutes of the Two Hundred Eighty-Seventh Meeting of the General Conference Committee Meeting, October 22, 1953, Accessed August 24, 2024, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1953-10.pdf.

  5. Minutes of the Three Hundred Tenth Meeting General Conference Committee December 17, 1953, accessed August 24, 2024, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1953-12.pdf.

  6. F. G. Clifford, ed. “News Notes,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, April 15, 1954, 4.

  7. “South Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1955), 160, 253.

  8. W. D. Eva, “Hither and Yon, Weddings,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, June 15, 1956), 12.

  9. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LF4C-37Y, accessed August 21, 2024.

  10. W. D. Eva, “Hither and Yon,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, October 15, 1957) 12.

  11. “South Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1957), 163, 264.

  12. H. E. Clifford, “Focus On: The Medical Department,” Trans-Africa Division Outlook, February 15, 1966, 5.

  13. “License No. 1812,” The Kenya Gazette, September 7, 1967, 957.

  14. “South Africa Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1967), 265.

  15. Ibid. (1971), 98.

  16. Ibid. (1973-1974), 317.

  17. Ibid. (1991), 403, 407.

  18. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LFCF-HKK, accessed July 3, 2024.

  19. https://library.llu.edu/blaine-mariel-jean-darnell-cyril-de-la-bere, accessed July 3, 2024.

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Sang, Godfrey K. "Blaine, Mariel Jean (Darnell) (1927–2001)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 21, 2024. Accessed February 13, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4JPP.

Sang, Godfrey K. "Blaine, Mariel Jean (Darnell) (1927–2001)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. October 21, 2024. Date of access February 13, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4JPP.

Sang, Godfrey K. (2024, October 21). Blaine, Mariel Jean (Darnell) (1927–2001). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved February 13, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4JPP.