Anna Pauline Blackmon, 92, of Rock Island, passed away Wednesday February 27, 2019 at UnityPoint-Trinity, Rock Island. Visitation will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, March 9, at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, 3030 7th Avenue, Rock Island, with services at 11:00 a.m. The burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery, Rock Island. Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, Rock Island.
Anna was born February 6, 1927 on a farm near Paragould, Arkansas, a daughter of Paul Hobart Smith and Lona Faulkner Smith. She married Louis Blackmon on May 26, 1946 in Trumann, Ark. She thought he was so good-looking and fun.
She worked hard from age 5; picking cotton, cranking the cream separator, and fetching cows from the dark, scary woods. They had no running water, electricity, or phone. Transportation was a horse and wagon.
The battery powered radio was only used sparingly by her father. Her mother played piano for the church. Anna taught herself to play at home, and took over for her mother, playing every Sunday from age 13-17.
Anna even travelled to play piano for area tent revivals. She graduated from Oak Grove HS in 1944 as Valedictorian of her class. She finished midyear and promptly entered Arkansas State College, still 16 years old, to earn a War-time Emergency Teaching Certificate.
Her sister, Virginia, helped with tuition. She started teaching full-time, at age 17, in McCormick, and later in Trumann. After marrying, she followed her husband to Clinton, Iowa, working 5 years at Finch Coal, and to Bettendorf, working 5 years at ALCOA.
When ALCOA decided that women should not work with men on the plant floor, and offered her a pay-cut for an office job, she quit and decided to have a child and finish college. They moved to Rock Island in 1958. She received her bachelor’s from Augustana College in 1966 and her master’s from Marycrest College in 1976.
She taught at Earl Hanson Elementary School in Rock Island, retiring in 1986. She adored her son, Lee, and said that raising him was a joy. She was very proud of her granddaughter, Lizzy, and was crazy for her great-grandson Charlie.
A long-time member of First Baptist Church, Rock Island, she taught an adult Sunday School class, and sang in the choir. She enjoyed wintering in Florida with Louis for several years. She was in the Saukie Ladies’ Golf League.
She was a fast reader, and enjoyed American and Christian history. Anna was a smart, classy lady, who was very wise, worked hard, and always kept a positive outlook on life. Surviving are her son: Lee Blackmon (Jamie Hill), Moline; granddaughter: Lizzy (Sam) Luoma, Duluth, Minn.
; step-granddaughter, Samantha Tonn, Moline; great-grandson, Charlie Luoma; brother: John Robert (Bonnie) Smith, Paragould, Ark. ; and many other family. A special thanks to her kind neighbors: Keith and Linda Shaw, and Jim and Kerry Marolf.
Anna was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband, Louis; and a dear sister, Virginia Price.
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