Lola M Blanton

Lola May Mecum born on November 30th, 1950. She was born to Lola Renia and Charles Francis Mecum. As one of seven siblings, (Lorraine, Charles, Harry, James, Patty Sue, Connie and Lola), losing her father when she was 12, and coming from modest means, Lola learned early on that sometimes life was tough, and that she was tougher.

Due to her father’s passing and her families’ modest means, Lola was forced to drop out of school in junior high to help the family. This did not prevent her lifelong love of learning.

She married very young at 14, and had her first child, Sharon Widener at 16, in 1967. Her first husband was an abusive alcoholic. At a time in which many women would have stayed in a bad marriage, Lola refused to remain in an abusive relationship and left her first husband and filed for divorce.

At the age of 17, she met the love of her life, Donald Blanton, and they were married on May 21st, 1968. They welcomed their son, David Blanton into the world in 1974. In fact, they were so in love, they got married twice. Lola and Don divorced for a short time in 1980 and remarried in 1981.

Lola lost Don in 1988 after a two year battle with cancer, and I am sure she is rejoicing to finally be at his side once again.

In her late teens, shortly after marrying Don, Lola had a surgery to repair her hearing. The surgery did not go as planned and her hearing was worse, much worse, after the procedure. She was deaf in one ear and had to use a hearing aid in her other ear for the rest of her life. Just another obstacle that she would go on to overcome.

If there was one word that would sum up Lola, it would have to be entrepreneur. She spent time as a real estate agent, flipped houses, owned and ran a construction company, would buy items at auctions and then sell them at the swap and shop, she got her insurance license, she even bought a native American museum in the interests of turning into her personal residence. As with all entrepreneurs, sometimes these endeavors ended in failure, and as all entrepreneurs do, she continued to take risks and bet it all on herself.

Lola’s three favorite pastimes were reading, gambling and watching football. She was a Kansas City Chiefs fan through and through. She loved to go to the casino to play poker and would also play poker online. She loved to participate in football pools and bet on football games. Her reading tastes varied from the most salacious romance novels to the most stodgy history text. She loved to read and learn.

When she was younger, Lola loved to drive fast and ride motorcycles. She was a gambler and risk taker through and through.

Lola is predeceased by her husband Donald Blanton, her sister Lorraine Stoebick, her brothers Charlie, Harry and Jim Mecum, her parents Lola Renia Mecum and Charles Francis Mecum, and her granddaughter Sophia Blanton.

She leaves behind her sisters Patty Sue and Connie, her daughter Sharon Hassey, her son David Blanton and his wife Amanda, her grandchildren April Templin, Autumn Templin, George Templin, Jr, Tyler Templin, Tiffany Templin, Mikayla Blanton and her great grandbaby Aria Templin. She also leaves behind nieces and grandnieces and nephews and grandnephews.

The term ‘they broke the mold’ is often used to describe a unique person. Perhaps none has ever walked the face of the earth more unique than Lola Blanton.

A service for Lola will be held Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Chapel Hill - Butler Funeral Home, 701 North 94th Street, Kansas City, KS 66112. Visitation will be from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM also at the chapel.

Lola will be laid to rest in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.

Serving as pallbearers are David Blanton, George Templin, Tyler Templin, Darryl Mecum, Russell J Couffer and Hubert Hale, Jr..

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.chapelhill-butler.com for the Blanton family.