Saratoga Springs, NY - Mary McCollum Blunt, of Saratoga Springs, New York, died on January 10, 2015. The cause of death was heart failure. Mary McCollum was born on June 2, 1921, in Pikeville, Tennessee. As Mary grew up, her father's career with Trans World Airlines entailed a dozen relocations all over the country. After high school, Mary enrolled in the Philadelphia College of Art, where she earned her degree in Fine Arts. In 1943, she married J. Robert Blunt, of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and settled in Los Angeles, California, where she ably juggled the competing demands of mother, wife, painter, ceramicist, television model and actress. In 1956, Mrs. Blunt moved back to suburban Philadelphia and launched Toni Blunt Studios, specializing in ceramics and portraiture. She always regarded her career highlight to be the commission she received from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., to design and paint dozens of intricate canvases depicting prominent American personages for the cathedral's needlepointed kneelers. One may still view and kneel upon her work in the cathedral. Mrs. Blunt moved to Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1983 and became the co-owner of The Unicorn, a retail gift and greeting card business. She retired in 2005 and moved to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. For the past ten years, Mary remained engaged in her many artistic endeavors. Surviving Mrs. Blunt are her daughter, Victoria Montgomery, of Santa Monica, California; her son, James R. Blunt, Jr., of Malvern, Pennsylvania; her sister, Mickey M. Vassallo, of Saratoga Springs, New York; and her nieces, Allison V. Parke, of Saratoga, New York, and Andrea H. Vassallo, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is also survived by her grandsons, Christopher C. Blunt, of Ventura, California, and Alexander R. Blunt, of Austin, Texas. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 25, at the Embury Apartments, 133 Lawrence Street, in Saratoga, New York. Father Paul Evans, the associate rector at Bethesda Episcopal Church, will officiate. Mary's friends and acquaintances are welcome to attend. Arrangements are under the direction of the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes of 628 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs (518-584-5373). Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuneralhome.com.