Tommie Jean Blakeway

Tommie Jean Blakeway (née Thorp) died peacefully on January 3, 2018 in Carrollton, Texas at the age of 87 with her immediate family by her side. Her death was the result of complications of COPD, a disease she lived with, and battled valiantly, for many years.

She is preceded in death by her parents Pascal B. “Red” and Ruby B. Thorp (née Jennings); Stepmother, Annie B. Thorp (née Maresh); husband of 42+ years of marriage, Clarence C. Blakeway; Son, Robert “Bobbie” Blakeway; Sister, Thressa Borders; and Brothers Troy Thorp, Harvey Thorp and Kenneth Thorp.

Tommie was born on October 2, 1930 in Austin, Texas. A true daughter of Texas, she grew up on a farm in the rural Hill Country area well before the conveniences of indoor plumbing or electricity. She and her siblings enjoyed simple pleasures, family gatherings and living off the land. After completing some early schooling, she began working for Scarbrough’s Department store in downtown Austin where horses and early trolleys provided transportation on the cobblestone and hard-pack dirt streets. She delighted in recounting how Scarborough’s strict dress code required all female store clerks to wear nylons, but most – including her – faked them by using eyeliner to simulate the stocking line on the back of their legs!

She would later meet and marry Clarence Cleveland Blakeway, also a Texas native and a WWII veteran and civil engineer by trade. His job took them to numerous locations in Texas and Louisiana where, over time, she would own and manage a local country store, become a certified beautician with her own beauty shop and also start a barbeque catering service for local events and family reunions. During this time, they also welcomed two sons, Robert “Bobbie” & Clark into their lives. She proved to be a kind, patient mother who immersed herself in supporting and raising her boys. She would become a lifelong Longhorn with both sons having ties with the University of Texas through their employment, college studies and band. She was proud to flash a “Hook ‘em Horns” sign and attended many home football games on the famed forty acres.

After re-settling in the Austin area, Tommie -- who always encouraged and supported her sons in their educational and professional pursuits -- completed her own milestone by earning a GED and working as a licensing clerk for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Her career spanned 22 years and she rose to the highest position of her division (Supervisor) reporting to the Director DPS, Colonel. She retired from this role in 1992 and was celebrated by her division for her authentic, caring style, her fun workplace attitude and her fierce loyalty.

Tommie was accomplished at sewing and quilting. She made many of her own clothes, sewed many band costumes and completed numerous, and beautiful, quilts which she generously gifted to family members throughout her life. She was the consummate southern cook and her family and friends greatly enjoyed many recipes that she knew only by heart and feel. She loved having a fresh garden and was known to can fruit and vegetables every year to “put away” for winter enjoyment. Her tastes, in all things, tended toward simple and country. She enjoyed country & western music and dancing, rodeos, fishing and lake camping with family and sweets of all kinds…especially ice cream. She possessed a sharp sense of humor, often joking with people, asking them “Whose side are you on? Better be mine!” and deflecting questions she didn’t want to answer with an emphatic response of “Anyway!” and then moving quickly on to a new topic.

After retirement, and the death of her first husband – Clarence, she began to travel with girlfriends and socialize through country and western dancing. She met her second husband, Jerry Morris, through a mutual friend’s introduction at a Halloween dance. She joined Jerry, in traveling the country for two years, as part of his job as a long-haul trucker. She later said that while she loved seeing the country she was ready to come home to Texas at Jerry’s retirement. They married shortly afterwards at their home in Granite Shoals, Texas with an outdoor reception under the property’s large, old oak tree. They took a honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean, enjoyed short trips to Louisiana to gamble and hosted Thanksgiving dinner each year.

Tommie loved life and was content in her own skin, with what she had and the family she cherished. Her 75th birthday celebration brought much of her family together for what was a final reunion for many members who have since passed. She enjoyed her 85th birthday in Branson, Missouri attending one of her favorite TV shows – The Presley’s Country Jubilee, meeting the cast and receiving a personal birthday serenade from the ladies of the show. Tommie also enjoyed the Dallas Arboretum during the Spring and Fall festivals. She loved Halloween and even into her eighties, she was known to carve jack o’ lanterns with her family and dress up for Halloween to give out candy to delighted trick-or-treaters. Each holiday, she would also wish her family members a happy holiday and add the word “gift” to the end of the greeting and tell you that if she wished you a happy holiday first…. you owed her a gift. As in “Happy 4th of July gift!”

Tommie’s memory will be cherished by the family and friends who were blessed to know her and be the recipient of her loving spirit. She and her sister, Thressa, often exchanged the very sentiment that reflected this spirit. At the end of their routine, daily phone calls…Thressa would say “Love you much!” to which Tommie would reply “Love you more!”.

Tommie is survived by her second husband of 13 years of marriage, Jerry Morris of Carrollton, Texas; Son, Clark Blakeway and Daughter-in-Law, Maria of Lewisville, Texas; Sister, Peggy Shelton and husband Ronnie of Waco, Texas; Sister, Delores Jones of Buda, Texas and Brother, Pascal Thorp, Jr and wife Evagene of Spicewood, Texas.

All are welcome for a visitation and graveside inurnment service. The visitation is planned for Saturday, January 27th, from 12n-4pm in Pflugerville, Texas at Cook-Walden Capital Parks Funeral Home (14501 North IH-35, Pflugerville, Texas 78660). The graveside inurnment will be held Sunday, January 28th at 1pm in Pflugerville, Texas at Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery.

The family would like to thank the physicians and hospital staff of Select Specialty Hospital, Carrollton Texas for their care.