James Blankenship

James David Blankenship, 94, passed away on June 4, 2019. He was born April 23, 1925 in Macon Missouri. He grew up in the Macon First Baptist Church and became an Eagle Scout in their troop. In 1943, he received his diploma from Macon High School, and induction papers for the draft the same day. He served in the Navy three years as an electronic technician, with a year and a half on destroyer type ships in the Pacific theater during World War II. Upon being discharged, he completed his education, graduating with honors, with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri, Rolla. He then accepted a position with IBM. He spent most of his career at IBM developing products for banking systems, including data entry machines - he felt his greatest contribution was in the development of check readers and sorters. He served on the group that planned the creation of the IBM plant and lab in Charlotte North Carolina, and was the Laboratory Director assigned to create the Bank System Laboratory there. He wrapped up his career in Germany creating a group to manage IBM’s banking products in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. After retiring, Jim was devoted to community service. He was an active member of the Mooresville-Lake Norman Rotary club, served two terms on the board of Charlotte Habitat for Humanity, and was treasurer for Our Towns Habitat in Davidson North Carolina. Nine years ago, after moving to Endwell, he served as President of Endwell Rotary and was active in the organization until recently. Jim enjoyed boating, snow skiing, cruising, gardening, and spending time with his family. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Evelyn; three children, Constance (Richard) Porterfield, David (Jacqueline) Blankenship, James (Barr Ticknor) Blankenship; 4 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren; Dennis (Jen Gelbstein) Porterfield and Adam, Michelle Porterfield (Scott) Wilson; Carter, Nolan, and Adelie, Katie Blankenship (Justin) Wagner; David and Grace, James A. (Meagan) Blankenship; Lucas and William, and his brother Louis (Norma) Blankenship, and their family.
Funeral Services will be held on Friday at 11 am at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 711 Farm to Market Road, Endwell. Entombment will be in Vestal Hills Memorial Park, Vestal. The family will receive friends at church Friday from 10 am until Service time at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in his memory may be made to Rotary International, to help further the work that he believed in. The family wishes to thank the dedicated staff at Wilson Hospital, Good Shepherd Fairview, and Good Shepherd Village Endwell who showed him so much compassion.