Kathleen (Dillon) Blankenship

Born November 23, 1921, in Lewisburg, Kentucky, Kathleen Dillon Blankenship went to be with the Lord on Friday, October 9, 2026. Preceded in death by her parents Exie and Erval Dillon, a sister Meredith, a brother John T. Dillon, her husband, Lenual L. Blankenship and a sister Wilma D. Jackson. Survived by her son, David Blankenship, her daughter Karen Talak and son-in-law Frank Talak, a son Keith Blankenship, her grandchildren Kelley Ewing (Adam), Lauren Price (Evan), Erika Blankenship. great grandchildren Noah and Luke Price and numerous extended family members and friends.

Kathleen graduated from Lewisburg High School in 1940. She attended and graduated from Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in home economics in 1944. She paid her college tuition by working summers at DELCO (a division of General Motors) in Dayton, Ohio and during her four years of college, she worked in the school library and earned $10.00 per month. Without that $10.00 she would not have been able to stay in school as it covered both room and board.

She began her teaching career in Greensburg, Kentucky where she met and married Lenual Blankenship on April 14, 1949. They continued to live in Greensburg until 1959 when Lenual was promoted to Postal Inspector with the U.S. Postal Service and the family moved to Elkins, West Virginia where they lived from 1959 to 1964. In 1964 they moved to Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. and she began working for Fairfax County Schools. For twenty years she managed various school cafeterias in Fairfax County. She retired in 1985. After retirement, Kathleen and Lenual traveled extensively both in the U.S. and Europe. Kathleen was married to Lenual for over 50 years until his death in 2000.

Kathleen and Lenual became members of First Baptist Church of Springfield, Virginia in 1964. She volunteered and served on numerous committees and boards at the church. Kathleen and Lenual were very active in the church's mission program, and they traveled to several areas of the U.S., building and renovating church buildings. She resided in Springfield, Virginia for 51 years and moved to North Carolina in 2015.

Her hobbies included gardening, sewing and knitting. She knitted numerous baby hats used in maternity wards and area hospitals. She also made baby quilts and donated those as well.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Kathleen's memory to Oneida Baptist Institute, P.O. Box 67, Oneida, KY 40972-0067, phone 606-847-4111. Oneida began in 1899 in the heart of Appalachia as a mainstay to mountain children and has grown to a K-12 institution with over 350 students from around the world. Kathleen and Lenual volunteered at Oneida when active on mission trips.

The family extends thanks to Carolina Caring and to the loving nurses and staff at Kingston Residence of Hickory, for the care, kindness and support provided through the years".

A private graveside service will be held at Quantico National Cemetery at a later date.

Kathleen will be greatly missed and forever loved.

"For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't and life can't. The angels won't, and the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are - high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean - nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us." Romans 8:38-39 The Living Bible