Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Billie Velma Blackwell

Billie Velma Strickland Blackwell, 76, of Cherokee Village passed away Saturday, January 23, 1999, at Fulton County Nursing Home in Salem.

Mrs. Blackwell was born October 24, 1922, in Lake City, the daughter of William Archless Strickland and Rosetta Jane (Sisco) Strickland. She was united in marriage on May 17, 1947, to Donald W. Blackwell in Peoria, Ill. Mrs. Blackwell was a homemaker and a member of Hardy United Methodist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell moved to Cherokee Village in 1978. She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Rosetta Strickland; three borthers, Glenn Strickland, Jimmie Strickland and Lee Strickland; and four sisters, Myrtle Barnes, Ruth Adams, Lizzie Caldwell and Frankie Fletcher.

Survivors include her husband, Donald W. Blackwell of the home; one son, David Blackwell of Gurdon; one daughter, Kathi Swindell of Memphis, Tenn.; three brothers, Russell Strickland of Black Oak, Alvin Strickland of Kingsburg, Calif., and Donald Ray Strickland of Jonesboro; five sisters, Eva Cullen of Bono, Allene Darr of Peoria, Evelyn Griffin of Phoenix, Ariz., Marcile Williams of Martinez, Ga., and Wilma Jean Meyers of Houston, Texas; four grandchildren, John David Blackwell and Michael Bunnell both of Gurdon, Heather Ivey of Cookville, Tenn., and Melissa Bunnell of St. Joseph, Mo.; and two great grandchildren, Rianne Bunnell of St. Joseph, Mo., and Bobbi Jo Bunnell of Gurdon.

Graveside services were held Tuesday, January 26, at Monette Memorial Cemetery in Monette with Rev. Judy Clark officiating. Arrangements were under the direction of Tri-County's Cherokee Chapel Funeral Services of Hardy.