Memorial donations can be made to:

Versailles United Methodist Church or Funeral Directors Assoc. of KY Scholarship Fund

Leslie J. Blackburn, Jr.

December 10, 1920 - January 22, 2010

Leslie J. “Ikey” Blackburn, Jr., 89, retired funeral director, husband of Margaret D. Blackburn, died Fri., Jan. 22 in Galveston, TX. A son of the late Leslie J. Sr. and Lena Heath Blackburn, Ikey grew up on Montgomery Avenue. When he was 16, he started working after school for the late D. R. Duell at Duell Funeral Chapel located on Main St. near the Bluegrass Grocery which was owned by his father and his Uncle Clarence. He served in the U. S. Coast Guard during World War II, returned to marry his wife of 64 years in 1945, and earned a degree in Mortuary Science where he graduated Cum Laude from the Cincinnati College of Embalming. In 1957 he purchased a partnership in the Miller-Rasnick Funeral Home which then became the Miller-Blackburn Funeral Home. He and Scott Miller remained partners for 20 years at which time he acquired full ownership in 1977 and renamed the firm Blackburn Funeral Home. He retired in 1989, and sold the firm to Steve Ward. He and Margaret spent several years touring most of the US, Canada, and Mexico in a motor home prior to moving to Galveston to live near their only son, Leslie J. “Buddy” Blackburn III and daughter-in-law, Esmenia. In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by a grandson, Leslie J. (Zach) Blackburn IV and his wife Laureen of Warwick, Rhode Island, two great grandchildren, Leslie J. (Gage) Blackburn V, Kayleigh Deborah Blackburn, two nephews, Mike Blackburn of Versailles, William Leslie Phelps and his wife Gerri of Versailles, five grandchildren in Texas, Thirty Lacy, Ninety Lacy, Twenty Stephenson and her husband Steve, Suzanne Lacy and her husband Joe Maxwell, Jeremy Ashley, and four great grandchildren, Tristan Lacy, Joseph Maxwell, Celeste Lacy, and Freedom Stephenson. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Gayle Blackburn, a brother, Willard Z. Blackburn, and a sister, Linnie B. Phelps. He was a member and former Trustee of the Versailles United Methodist Church, was a former President and member of the Lexington Salesman’s Club, former member and board member of the Funeral Directors Association of Kentucky, former Kentucky Funeral Directors Burial Association Board member, member of the Kentucky Horse Shoe Kru (a camping club), member and former Commander of American Legion Post #67, and had served on the Woodford Co. Draft Board.
A Memorial Service will be held in Galveston at 3:00 pm, Wednesday, January 27.
Visitation will be 1 to 5 PM, Sunday, January 31 at Blackburn & Ward Funeral Home. Funeral services will be 11 AM Monday, February 1 at the funeral home with Rev. Coleman Howlett officiating. Burial will follow at the Versialles Cemetery. Memorial contributions are suggested to Versailles United Methodist Church or to the Funeral Directors Assoc. of Kentucky Scholarship Fund.

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