Service Saturday for Donald Lee Blackmon
Funeral services for Donald Lee Blackmon, 60, Atoka County resident, will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Brown’s Funeral Service Chapel, at 718 West 13 th Street (Highway 7 West), Atoka.
A graveside service will follow at Green Meadows Cemetery in Atoka; interment will be at a later date in Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Muskogee County.
Blackmon died peacefully January 13, 2020 at his home in Stringtown, OK.
Blackmon was born
June 15, 1959, in McAlester to Donald Ray and Lois (Hardison) Blackmon, and graduated from Atoka High School. He later attended Central Texas College. On September 14, 1977, he married a very patient Debbie (Johnson) who said she wasn’t sure if he won her over or wore her down with his charm and wit.
Far from an ordinary man, he was the toughest guy anyone knew. Those who loved him called him by one or more of his aliases: Don, Donnie, Chief, USO Dad, Big Bubba and in later years, Bubba Lite.
One could also call him a hero – as a firefighter he once raced into a burning, smoke-filled home to rescue people trapped inside, earning a citation from the State of Oklahoma. But he also fell off a fire truck and broke his hand, so there’s that.
At the age of 17, Blackmon joined the Marine Corps Reserves and after a couple of years decided to make a career in the Air Force. However, Air Force recruiters go on lunch breaks and he wanted to “be all he could be” while at the recruiting station, so Blackmon ended up in the Army instead – first in the Oklahoma National Guard and then in the regular Army.
Blackmon found his true calling as an Army maintenance Warrant Officer – the unique breed of soldiers who know when to dazzle people with brilliance and when to baffle them with B.S.. The Army took him to adventurous places: Fort Riley, Kansas (three times); Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (twice); Fort Polk, Louisiana; Frankfurt and Bamberg, Germany; and Korea. While he served with several units, Blackmon served mostly with the 1 st Infantry Division, including deployments in support of Operation Desert Storm (Saudi Arabia) and humanitarian missions in both Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Operation Joint Guard in Bosnia.
Among his numerous awards and accolades, Blackmon earned the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal (4 th award), Army Achievement Medal (7 th award) and the Army Good Conduct Medal (2 nd award). He also won the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence competition in 1995, the logistician’s version of the Best Ranger Competition.
After major surgeries in late 1999 left him paralyzed, Blackmon retired as a Chief Warrant Officer 3 in 2000 with more than 23 years of combined service. Like a truly stubborn Warrant Officer, he defied the odds and taught himself to walk again – something he would do three more times in later years.
Throughout his life, Blackmon was an extremely generous and helpful person who never hesitated to help someone in need; and retirement afforded him the time and opportunity to continue to serve others. For example, good people help change someone’s tires. He once dug through his shed to hunt down two
of his own tires to give
a stranded stranger who had a flat tire and no spare. He would hop on his Harley trike and drive 400 miles one way to serve dinner to troops and their families at USO Fort Riley in Kansas. He once loaned his camper to Gary Sinise and the Lieutenant Dan Band, and he has an autographed camper wall to prove it. He served as a Patriot Guard ride captain and placed flags on the graves of veterans in area rural cemeteries to ensure those who served our nation were not forgotten. He was a member of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club and Veterans of Foreign Wars as well.
Not a picker but certainly a grinner, a lover and a sinner, Don had always believed in God but didn’t accept Christ until he believed God had given him a second chance.
During his journey, Donnie never swayed from his mission to put smiles on others’ faces despite his own health battles.
He is survived by his wife, Debra Blackmon of the home in Stringtown, OK; daughter, April Blackmon Strange and husband David of Basehor, KS; son, Dustin Blackmon and fianceé Andi LaRosa of Vancouver, WA; grandkids, Shelby Wharton and husband Ben of Lee’s Summit, MO, Nathan Strange of Kansas City, KS; great granddaughter, Hadley Wharton of Lee’s Summit, MO; siblings, Linda Willis and husband Christopher of Durant, OK, David Blackmon and wife Carrie of Phillips, OK, Debbie Thompson and husband Mike of McAlester, OK; mother and father in law, Jean and Dale Johnson of Stringtown, OK; sisters in law, Denise Roberts and husband Michael of McAlester, OK, Dawn Wall and husband Joe of Edmond, OK; numerous extended family members; and scores of friends who loved him like family.
Preceding him in death were his parents, Donald Ray Blackmon and Lois (Hardison) Blackmon, and his four-legged fur buddies – Chief and Vinnie.
In lieu of flowers, he requested you give to the American Kidney Fund to help others afford dialysis at www.kidneyfund.org or a cause of your choice.
Honorary pallbearers are his nieces and nephews: Christopher and Dominik Jarman; Brian and Justin Hutchinson; Rowdy, Luke, Annelise, Dakota and Rachel Blackmon; Michael, April, James, Jami, Aliyah, Gavin, Jillian, Annah and Olivia Gray; Kristen, Dylan and Shelbi Wall.