OBITUARY William Kenneth Blankenship June 5, 1935 – October 10, 2018 Play Tribute Movie William Kenneth Blankenship was born on June 5, 1935 in Leeland, Mississippi to William Boyd and Kate Blankenship. He traveled with his family throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In high school, he played in the marching band and had a passion for motorcycles.
After high school, he joined the Navy, where he became a test pilot flying T-38’s. After the Navy he went to Louisiana Tech, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. While still in the Navy, he met the love of his life, Martha Waldrep.
They were married on June 19th, 1959. Ken worked two jobs while attending school. In April of 1960, they welcomed their first child, Kevin.
The family moved to Ruston, Louisiana where Ken was hired by Ludlow. Later they welcomed another son, Bill, and a daughter, Becky. They moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he worked for Southwestern Bell.
In 1969, the family moved to Houston, Texas, where Ken joined the Memorial Hospital System. He worked for them until 1986, when he and Martha moved to Grapevine, Texas, to work for VHA hospital system. Ken had a lifelong passion for cars and motorcycles.
His favorite car was his midnight blue Z 28. He also owned several dirt bikes and motorcycles and taught his children to ride. He also enjoyed boxing and became an AAU official.
He supported the PABA, and officiated many matches, including the Golden Gloves. He was a volunteer for Junior achievement and was passionate about giving back and helping young people. Another passion of his was golf.
He played throughout his life and volunteered as a marshal for the Training Station Golf Course in Sugarland during his retirement. Ken loved the beach, and the family spent many weekends camping there, first in a VW micromini bus, then in an RV. The family took many road trips in RV’s as well.
Ken and Martha took many trips and traveled to San Francisco, New York City, Mexico, Jamaica, and Hawaii. Ken and Martha were both excellent dancers and always delighted the crowd at family gatherings with their dancing. Ken and Martha’s favorite role was that of Grandparents.
Grammy and Pappy, as they were known, hosted their seven grandchildren many weekends and summers. They taught all of them to swim in their backyard pool. Pappy loved to play in the pool and make rubber band guns for them.
He and Grammy also enjoyed attending school, theater, and sports functions with their grandkids and taking them on outings around Houston. They held enormous Christmas Day Celebrations, where Pappy sang Karaoke with them. They later became great grandparents, where Ken was now known as GGP to them.
He leaves behind his soulmate, Martha, three children and their spouses, Kevin, Bill, Adria, Becky, and Mark. He also leaves 7 grandchildren, Jennifer, (Adam), Christina, Kathleen, Brennan, Sydney, Kelsey, and Jacob, as well as his honorary granddaughter, Tyler. He also leaves behind his two precious great grandchildren, Olivia and Ben.
We will always treasure the memories we shared with him.
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