Nellie Mae (Watson) Blankenship

Nellie Mae Blankenship, 84, of Poplar Bluff died Saturday, July 23, 2011 at the Cedargate Care Center in Poplar Bluff.

Mrs. Blankenship was born Dec. 17, 1926 in Fairdealing, Mo. She was a member of Agee Community Church, and a former member of the Poplar Bluff Garden Club. Mrs. Blankenship was a (non-fiction) writer and began writing as a hobby, writing short human-interest stories under her by-line Nellie Johnson. Her hobby grew into a career that spanned more than two decades. She worked as Feature Editor for the local Three River?s Times in the 1960?s and later joined the staff of the Daily American Republic. Mrs. Blankenship would often use family, friends or acquaintances as subjects for her human-interest stories or columns: Homemakers, Flower Arranging and Youngsters in Action. In 1970, she moved to Colorado Springs, Colo. where she wrote regularly for Davis Publications of New York and Prentice-Hall, publishers of several in-house publications which were written specifically for workers in certain professional fields such as banking, safety (OSHA), education, utilities, etc. After living in Colorado for 21 years, Mrs. Blankenship retired and moved back to her hometown in 1991, and resumed her writing as an occasional hobby until her death. She enjoyed writing, reading, gardening, sewing and flower arranging.

On Oct. 10, 1942, she married Delbert Johnson in Poplar Bluff. Mr. Johnson preceded her in death on Feb. 17, 1995. She was also previously married to Richard Kyle Blankenship of Monette, Ark.

Survivors include her daughter, Shirley Johnson of Poplar Bluff; three step-children, Robert Blankenship of Monett, Ark., Judy Gipson of Lonsdale, Ark., and Suzanne Hurt of Joplin, Mo.; three grandchildren, Mary Williams and husband Robert of Raleigh, N.C., Jon Price and wife Jessica of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Sarah Wilson and husband Glenn of Ringold, Ga.; a number of great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mary Clementz and husband Bob of Olive Branch, Ill. and Marie Emerich and husband John of Muskegon, Mich.; and a brother, Earl Watson of Gerald, Mo.

Her parents, William Charles Watson and Mabel Hembree Watson, son, David Lee Johnson and brothers, Calvin, Tom, Bill and Michael Watson also preceded Mrs. Blankenship in death.

Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff. The funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. in the Chapel with Pastor Fred Birdsong officiating. Burial will be at Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Poplar Bluff.