James Raymond Jimmy Blankenship, 67, of Columbus died Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at Baptist Memorial Healthcare " Golden Triangle. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Funeral Home. Visitation will be Friday, September 21, 2012 from 6:00 PM -8:00 PM at Memorial Funeral Home. Services will be Saturday, September 22, 2012 at 2:00 PM at Memorial Funeral Home with Rev. Charles Mullins officiating. Interment will immediately follow in Davis Cemetery in West Point, MS. The son of the late Willie Edgar and Mary Belle Odum Blankenship, he was born September 20, 1944 in Mayhew, MS. He attended S. D. Lee Senior High School and served five years in A Btry., 2/114 FA, MS Army National Guard, during which time the unit was activated as a result of the Integration crisis at the University of MS in 1962. Mr. Blankenship retired in 2000 from Omnova Solutions as a Production Control Manager after 37 years of employment. He was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church. He was also a Big, big fan of Alabama Football, and loved to play golf and bowl. He also enjoyed fishing and camping. For many years the Blankenship brothers spent three weeks each year to watch spring training for the Atlanta Braves. In addition to his parents he was predeceased by his brothers Willie Edgar Blankenship, Jr., George William Blankenship and his brother-in-law Tommy Buchanan. Mr. Blankenship is survived by his wife Shirley Davis Blankenship, his son and daughter-in-law Dwayne and Paige Blankenship, his daughter Camille Blankenship Short, all of Columbus and his daughter Donna Blankenship Jackson of West Palm Beach, FL. He is also survived by his brother and sister-in-law Larry and Barbara Blankenship of Raymond, MS and his sisters and brother-in-law Mary V. and Sidney Thompson and Betty Buchanan, all of Columbus and sisters-in-law Suki Blankenship of Gulfport, MS and Linda Blankenship of Bean Station, TN. Other survivors include his six grandchildren Lindsay Blankenship, Emma Blankenship, Carly Short, Harper Short, Mitch Jackson and Myles Jackson and two great-grandchildren Alexa Grissom and Gadsden Goforth. Pallbearers will be Kenny Wayne Thompson, Sidney Lamar Thompson, Neal Coker, R.B. Davis, Jerry Davis, Bubba Davis, Walt Moseley and Dan Gottschalk. Honorary pallbearers include former employees of Omnova Solutions, Tom Roberts, Chuck Etchells, Joe Godfrey, Jerry Mitchener, and Billy Joe Carroll.
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