Darrell E. Blakeman's Obituary
Age 86, of Norvell Township, passed away February 1, 2021 at Brightside Assisted Living. Darrell was born October 10, 1934 in Norvell Township to Harvey and Bertha Fern (Pittman) Blakeman. He was a 1952 graduate of Napoleon High School and went on to work for 45 years at Ford Motor Company as an engineer, never having missed a day of work and winning an award for that. At Ford, his greatest pride was developing a new plant in Mexico called Car Plastic where he resided for 2 years. Darrell was an avid golfer and played in 2 leagues for many years; he was a faithful Red Cross blood donor through the years.
Darrell is survived by his wife of 47 years, Nila (Moses) Blakeman; son, Mark (Karen) Blakeman; daughter, Wendy (Michael) Foster; step-children, Brian (Brenda) Carpenter and Cheryl (Tim) Potter; six grandchildren, Harvey Blakeman, Todd (Rachel) Carpenter, Bethany (Nathan) Johnson, Travis Hath, Hannah Potter and Silas Potter; five great-grandchildren; brother-in-law, Gerry Merz and sister-in-law, Kaye Blakeman; many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Evelyn (Schmitz); sister, Beverly Merz; brother, Dale Blakeman; brother-in-law, LeRoy Schmitz; sister-in-law, Norma (Norman) Reese.
His family would like to give a special thank you to all the staff at Brightside Assisted Living, especially Meghan, Kat, Melissa and Ashley for their excellent care the past three years.
Due to Covid restrictions, there will be no visitation and private family invitation only services will be held at Community Bible Church, 8400 Sharon Hollow Road, Manchester on Saturday, February 6, 2021 at 11:00 am with Pastor Ron Clark officiating. Interment will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery in Napoleon. For those who wish, contributions may be given in Darrell's memory to Youth Haven Ranch in Rives Junction or the American Red Cross.
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