James H. Blankenship

James H. "Butch" Blankenship, 85, of Monroe, died Saturday, November 20, 2010, at Mt. Pleasant Retirement Village. He was born at home in Middletown, at the corner of Girard and Curtis Street on May 27, 1925 to parents Charles and Minnie Belle (Smith) Blankenship, who had four other children, Richard, Louis, Mildred & Julia, who preceded their brother in death.

He attended high school in Trenton, but times were hard so he dropped out and joined the Navy as a signalman in the Navy Armed Guard. On May 3, 1947, James married Patricia Ann Dees. In 63 years of marriage James, sometimes called "Butch", and Pat were each other's best friends. They enjoyed going to the Olympics in 1976, the World's Fair and took cruises on Chesapeake Bay and the Mississippi River. They "roughed it" camping in nearly every state and had many adventures. The couple shared a love of flowers, feeding and watching birds, music, cutting coupons and bargain hunting, good home cooked food, reading the newspaper, going to high school sporting events and Bengals games and watching Jeopardy, mysteries and sitcoms. James loved reading his Bible every day, working crosswords, playing solitaire and watching sports on TV, especially the Kentucky Wildcats. He was a generous man with a rare blood type and was called on often to donate, which he did. For 15 years he took cereal to the Hope House. James went to night school in 1967 to get his High School diploma. He got straight A's, could discuss anything and never met a stranger. A loyal democrat, James' legacy is his letters to the editor of the Middletown Journal, which were numerous and spanned many years. A dedicated employee of Armco Steel, he retired from the Hot Strip after 38 years in 1987. He coached the Armco Triangles Basketball and Softball teams and was inducted into the Butler County Softball Hall of Fame

James loved and took care of his family right until the end. Surviving him are his wife, Patricia; daughters, Eugenie Hughes (fiancé James Johnson) and Diane Moore, both of Middletown; two grandchildren, Christopher Grant Moore of Los Angeles and Hayley Marie Hughes of Middletown; great grandson, Aleister Grant Moore; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

James will be inurned at Woodside Cemetery in a private ceremony at the family's request. The family will host a celebration of his life at an open house on December 4th from 12 – 4 pm at the Heritage Green Clubhouse on Heritage Green Drive in Monroe, Ohio and asks that friends and family share this time with them.

In lieu of food, cards or flowers, we ask that donations be made to Hope House, Inc., 34 South Main Street, Middletown, OH 45044 this holiday season in his honor; he would have liked that.

Funeral Home:
Wilson-Schramm-Spaulding
3805 Roosevelt Blvd.
Middletown, OH
US 45044