So sorry for your loss! Yes, this was not at all uncommon back then.
In reality it is NEVER a good thing to get blood from a blood bank. Because for HIV there is a "window" in which the disease cannot be detected in a newly infected person. But when someone might die if they don't get needed blood, unless the hospital will allow a direct donation from a compatible known source, it is all that is available.
I encountered a situation back in the mid-90s where a loved one was in a severe accident in Canada. This person needed two units of blood - badly. At the time Canada, or at least British Columbia did not screen their blood supply at all. I was the same blood type as the patient and offered to donate the two pints. The hospital refused, saying they ONLY used blood from the blood bank. I went up the chain of command at that hospital, but they would not budge.
So my loved one got the unscreened blood. And she recovered. But she also had to go for regular HIV and HepC testing for a year after that. Thankfully she never got anything.