Mrs. Kathryn Gibbons Blackmon

COLUMBIA – A funeral service for Kathryn Gibbons Blackmon, 92, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 5, 2016, at New Zion United Methodist Church, New Zion, S.C. with burial in Trenholm Road UMC Memorial Gardens at 2:00 p.m. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family. Kathryn died Monday, October 31, 2016. She was born Johnnie Kathryn to Johnny Wright Gibbons and his wife, Sadie Lou Buddin Gibbons. She was raised in the farming community of New Zion, S.C. She was the oldest of four children and was preceded in death by her brothers, Raymond Wright Gibbons, Robert Neavland Gibbons and her sister, Sadie Jean Gibbons Childers. She was her high school valedictorian and excelled academically at Coker College. She taught high school in Conway, S.C. after graduating and met her husband to be, Lyndall Wade Blackmon, on a blind date in Columbia. Their first born, John Belk Blackmon was born while they were in Charleston during her husband's medical school days. Three years later she gave birth to another son, Donald Gibbons Blackmon, who preceded her in death. Two years after Donald she gave birth to a daughter, Rebecca Lynn Blackmon Groom. Kathryn was an open and loving person who was always ready to give of her time and energies to her family, friends, the community and her church, where she was a leader in the United Methodist Women's organization for many years. She was a woman of many talents which included sewing, painting, cooking and baking (best biscuits in the world), carpentry, bridge, golf, basketball, farming and landscape design with a green thumb. She loved to travel the world as much as she loved just being at home. She was blessed with nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Her family, her friends and her caretakers will sorely miss her beautiful smile and her loving disposition. In lieu of flowers, you may wish to honor her with a donation to the Alzheimer's Association, 140 Stoneridge Drive, Suite 210, Columbia, SC 29210, Amedisys Hospice of South Carolina, 198 E. Westmark Blvd., Suite 2, Sumter, SC 29150 or Clarendon Christian Learning Center, P.O. Box 911, Manning, SC 29102. Please sign the online guestbook at www.dunbarfunerals.com.