It is with a sad heart that we share with your the Passing of Brother Dave Blakesley. Dave Retires back in 1998, He had serverd as a union representative for many years.
Please keep the Blakesley family in your thoughts and prayers.
Obituary
Elston David Blakesley was born to Phillip and Pansey Blakesley on April 21, 1937 in Anthony, KS. He grew up a country boy, where he learned hard work, honor and respect. These are attributes he carried with him his whole life. He was drafted into the Army in March 1960 where he proudly served Active Duty until April 1962, and then as an Army Reservist until March 1966. On September 14, 1964 he was hired by American Airlines as a mechanic, where he said “at that time, American was hiring any farm boy that knew how to work on a tractor”. There wasn’t much he couldn’t fix, and if he didn’t know how to fix something, he wouldn’t give up until he did. He worked his way up to crew chief, seat shop and then also became the 2nd Vice President and Chairman of Maintenance for the Local 514 Transport Workers Union. He became an advocate and representative for mechanics and maintenance workers at American and retired from American Airlines in 1997 after 33 ½ years of service. Even though he spent much of his life working at American, his real love was being a rough and tumble cowboy , working rodeos, saddle-bronc riding and rodeo judging. He also started farming and buying and selling cattle, usually having a few hundred in the pasture at any given time. Little did he know, his life was in for a big change. In 1970, he was set up on a blind date. At the time, he was happily living the “bachelor” life. He wasn’t really interested in meeting anyone, so he said he would meet his date at a livestock sale where he would be buying cattle one Saturday morning. When his date arrived, he said he looked up and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She took his breath away, she looked like a movie star and a hush fell over the auction for a moment. She introduced herself to Dave, who’s heart was about to beat out of his chest, and Dave (never being one to act surprised or excited), played it cool and managed to say “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am but I’m conducting business right now. We’ll talk once this sale is over”. Lucky for him, she didn’t take offense and Dave and Arminta just celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary in September this year. The bond they have could never be broken. They both shared a love of antiques and enjoyed going to estate sales, auctions and antique shows, and had so much fun both buying and selling. Dave also became the “pocket watch man” and became a master at pocket watch repair, and loved to trade, buy and sell all types of pocket watches.
There truly are not enough words to describe the type of man Dave was. His word was his bond, and if he told you something, you could count on it. He was tough but fair, he was honest, strong, loyal, dependable, and someone that everyone knew they could count on. He never met a stranger, and everywhere he went, there was someone who knew him. His life was full of hard work, but also an abundance of love, fun and adventures. The stories of the shenanigans he would get in to growing up are legendary; he was well known for his orneriness. He may no longer be physically with us, but his impact on the lives of the people who knew him will live on and he will be forever missed and fondly remembered.
He is survived by his loving wife, Arminta; his children Carrie and son-in-law Gene, Joe and daughter-in-law Beckey, Julia and son-in-law Stephen; his brother Jerry and sister-in-law Debbie, and many nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“Old cowboys never die, they just ride off into the sunset”. Happy trails, Dave.
Memorial service will be 10:00 am, Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at the Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home Chapel.
Services are under the direction of Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home.