Obituaries : WILLIAM HENRY BLACKMER, SR.

WILLIAM HENRY BLACKMER, SR.

July 25, 1925-August 1st, 2012

A Memorial service for William (Bill) H. Blackmer, Sr., will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Casey, Iowa on June 1st at 10 a.m. with Rev. Jeffrey Keuning officiating. Internment will be at Oakwood Cemetery. William Blackmer passed away peacefully at Munroe Regional Medical Center on August 1st, 2012 in Ocala, Florida.

Bill Blackmer was born Jan. 25th, 1925 in Des Moines, Iowa to Clyde Blackmer and Marie Louise Langbehn. Bill spent most of his childhood in Casey, Iowa. He graduated from Fairfax High School in Fairfax, Virginia. He joined the the United States Navy right out of high school and serviced with honor from July, 1943 to April 1946 when he was honorably discharged.

He received a B.A. degree in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University in Ames Iowa. He worked as a county engineer in Alamedha County and Guthrie County before moving to Vinton, Iowa, where he had is own civil engineering business. He spent most of his working career in Vinton, where he raised four sons and three daughters. Later he also worked as city engineer in Coralville, Iowa and Independence, Iowa. He finished his career working as a civil engineer for the US army at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

He married Joy Joan Crawford on July 21st, 1948. After Bill retired, Bill and Joy moved to Ocala, Florida and enjoyed their retirement years walking on sandy beaches, meeting new friends, and enjoying the wildlife that they could see from their big picture window. Joy passed away on December 15, 2001. Bill continued to live in Ocala, watching the deer, birds and the occasional alligator. He would go out to eat with friends at the Elks Club and continued his life long passion of reading everything written about the Civil War and World War II.

Bill is survived by six children: Bill Blackmer, Jr. of Bend, Oregon; Derrick Blackmer of Waterloo, Iowa; Kathy Blackmer of La Mesa, California; Norma Gregory of Sugar Grove, Illinois, Jacquelyn Berl of San Mateo, California, and Jeff Blackmer of Merriam, Kansas. He is also survived by one sister, Carol Wilcox of Atlanic, Iowa and many, many cousins. Bill has nine grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

Bill is preceded in death by his wife, Joy, in 2003, and one son, Sidney Blackmer, in 2001. In addition, he is proceeded in death by three brothers and three sisters: Jack Blackmer, Robert Blackmer (who died at birth), and Fred Blackmer, Florence Bowdewyns, Marcella Dunn, Margaret Nell Tussey