Billy Blankenship, 86 of Solomons, MD, passed away on July 25, 2012 at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in Charlotte Hall, MD. He was born on March 8, 1926 in Sullivan, WV to Ollie Lunsford Blankenship and Walter B. Blankenship. He was the beloved husband of Norma J. Blankenship and she preceded him in death on April 26, 1995.
Billy joined the US Navy in 1946. He served honorably from March 8, 1946 to September 30, 1954. He received the American Theater Ribbon, World War II Victory Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Korean Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. After returning home, Billy became a Painter. He was known all around the Chesapeake Bay for his work as an exceptional yacht painter and restorer. He originally did the restoration and painting on the Drum Point Lighthouse after it was moved from Drum Point to the Calvert Marine Museum. Billy enjoyed fishing, crabbing and playing horseshoes.
Billy is survived by his children, Bobbie and her husband Chad Martin of Owings, MD, Linda and her husband Vinson Scott of Solomons, MD, Phillip Blankenship of Solomons, MD, Bonnie and her husband Ivan Vazques of Lexington Park, MD and Laura and her husband David Jimney of Lusby, MD; sixteen grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, three sisters, five brothers and his great-grandson Hunter Dean Scott.