Laura Blad

Laura Blad died on Sunday 18 October 2026, aged 56, after a six and a half year battle with cancer. According to her obituary, published by Wilks Funeral Homes, she died in her husband's arms, surrounded by her children. EastIdahoNews.com reported her death on 20 October 2026, noting that the former mayor had acknowledged her long fight with stage four cancer at his farewell in January.

She was survived by her husband, Brian, her mother, Kathy, her brother, Geoffrey, her children Ben, Jade, Jordan and Bryson, and six grandchildren. Viewings were arranged for 22 October at Wilks Funeral Home in Chubbuck and before the funeral on 23 October 2026 at 11 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1440 Lakeview Drive, Pocatello, followed by burial in Pocatello. A celebration of her life was also planned at the Idaho State University Alumni Center.

Laura Marie Blad was born in Taipei, Taiwan, on 8 August 1970. When she was three days old she was adopted by Kathy and Doug, an American couple who were then stationed in Thailand with the United States Army. The family returned to the United States when she was two, and she spent her childhood between Texas, Utah and North Carolina.

She graduated from Northern Nash High School in North Carolina and went on to Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, the church college now known as Brigham Young University-Idaho. It was there that she met Brian Blad, whom she married in 1990.

After their marriage the Blads moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where Laura devoted the following decades mainly to raising their four children. Once three of them had graduated from college, she ended a thirty year break from her own education and enrolled at Idaho State University, completing her bachelor's degree in 2019.

She stayed on at the university as a member of staff, first as an administrator in the engineering department and then at the Alumni Center. Her obituary said she filled her workplaces with joy, laughter and 1980s music. In spring 2026 Idaho State University invited the campus to celebrate her and the Bengal legacy she had created, noting her passion, positivity and care for others across campus and the Pocatello community. Her final in-person day was 1 May 2026, with a celebration at the ICCU Bengal Alumni Center on 7 May.

Her husband was elected mayor of Pocatello in November 2009 and served from January 2010 until January 2026. Throughout those four terms she was a steady presence at his side in the city's civic life, a role she continued even while undergoing treatment for cancer.

Laura and Brian Blad were married for 36 years and had four children, Ben, Jade, Jordan and Bryson, all of whom graduated from college, and six grandchildren. Her family said the greatest joy of her life was being a mother. She loved music, books and crafts, and was always starting a new project before finishing the last one. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and her obituary described her as a true disciple of Jesus Christ who accepted everyone and could always see the beauty in others.

In January 2026, at his farewell ceremony as mayor, Brian Blad spoke publicly of what public life had cost the family. "When you have to sit there and listen to things, sometimes, that you know are not true, and you can't say anything at all, that's hard," he said, before calling her "the best woman I've ever met in my life." By then she had been living with stage four cancer for nearly six years.

For sixteen years Laura Blad was the person beside Pocatello's mayor at civic events, and her husband's public tribute in January 2026 brought wider recognition of the private strain she had carried through his time in office and her illness. At Idaho State University, where she returned as a mature student and then worked, colleagues celebrated her for the warmth she brought to campus. Her family remembered a woman who changed people one life at a time, and a life of quiet, persistent goodness.