My great-grandfather Henry O'Dell Blackhurst was the third child (out of twelve) and second son born to the English Rev. Harry Blackhurst and his American wife, Lula May Burner in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His siblings included Francis Clark Blackhurst, Homer Tennyson Blackhurst and Warren Elmer "Tweard" Blackhurst. Harry, who hailed from Tunstall in Staffordshire County, England, had immigrated to the United States with his family in 1886. When he was 6 years old, Henry moved with his family down to Arbovale, West Virginia. He was recorded in the 1900 United States Federal Census as being a 5 year-old in Minneapolis the year before the family's relocation.
An interesting (and funny) story about him was when he registered to be included in the "Old Man Draft" of World War II, and the interviewer asked him how tall he was. Bop, a squat man no taller than 5'7", answered with a chuckle, "what do you think I am? Five-ten?" The man said, "sure, you could put that if you want," and so he wrote that down in the answer space. His father Harry was a tall man around 6'2", and many of his brothers and his eldest son towered over him as well.
When Henry was eighteen, he was out to market buying groceries for his family when he stumbled upon a pretty girl named Mary Ethel Ervine. He walked up to her, and said that one day, they would get married. Ethel, as she was called, made a funny face, and said he was gross, as she was only ten at the time. However, sure enough, on October 6, 1920, they tied the knot. Ethel was by this point a strong-willed, godly woman who would their shared values into the three sons and one daughter they would have. They were married for nearly sixty-eight years, and stood strong when times were tough, and their bond with each other and with God strengthened even further as they coped with my grandfather's untimely death in 1982. Ethel went to be with the Lord on March 2, 1988, a few years after they had both been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Bop lived on until the Lord called him to join his wife in Heaven on October 23, 1989, two months shy of his ninety-fourth birthday. He was survived by three of his four children, twelve grandchildren, and a several great-grandchildren.
An interesting (and funny) story about him was when he registered to be included in the "Old Man Draft" of World War II, and the interviewer asked him how tall he was. Bop, a squat man no taller than 5'7", answered with a chuckle, "what do you think I am? Five-ten?" The man said, "sure, you could put that if you want," and so he wrote that down in the answer space. His father Harry was a tall man around 6'2", and many of his brothers and his eldest son towered over him as well.
When Henry was eighteen, he was out to market buying groceries for his family when he stumbled upon a pretty girl named Mary Ethel Ervine. He walked up to her, and said that one day, they would get married. Ethel, as she was called, made a funny face, and said he was gross, as she was only ten at the time. However, sure enough, on October 6, 1920, they tied the knot. Ethel was by this point a strong-willed, godly woman who would their shared values into the three sons and one daughter they would have. They were married for nearly sixty-eight years, and stood strong when times were tough, and their bond with each other and with God strengthened even further as they coped with my grandfather's untimely death in 1982. Ethel went to be with the Lord on March 2, 1988, a few years after they had both been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Bop lived on until the Lord called him to join his wife in Heaven on October 23, 1989, two months shy of his ninety-fourth birthday. He was survived by three of his four children, twelve grandchildren, and a several great-grandchildren.
My great-grandfather Henry O'Dell Blackhurst was the third child (out of twelve) and second son born to the English Rev. Harry Blackhurst and his American wife, Lula May Burner in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His siblings included Francis Clark Blackhurst, Homer Tennyson Blackhurst and Warren Elmer "Tweard" Blackhurst. Harry, who hailed from Tunstall in Staffordshire County, England, had immigrated to the United States with his family in 1886. When he was 6 years old, Henry moved with his family down to Arbovale, West Virginia. He was recorded in the 1900 United States Federal Census as being a 5 year-old in Minneapolis the year before the family's relocation.
An interesting (and funny) story about him was when he registered to be included in the "Old Man Draft" of World War II, and the interviewer asked him how tall he was. Bop, a squat man no taller than 5'7", answered with a chuckle, "what do you think I am? Five-ten?" The man said, "sure, you could put that if you want," and so he wrote that down in the answer space. His father Harry was a tall man around 6'2", and many of his brothers and his eldest son towered over him as well.
When Henry was eighteen, he was out to market buying groceries for his family when he stumbled upon a pretty girl named Mary Ethel Ervine. He walked up to her, and said that one day, they would get married. Ethel, as she was called, made a funny face, and said he was gross, as she was only ten at the time. However, sure enough, on October 6, 1920, they tied the knot. Ethel was by this point a strong-willed, godly woman who would their shared values into the three sons and one daughter they would have. They were married for nearly sixty-eight years, and stood strong when times were tough, and their bond with each other and with God strengthened even further as they coped with my grandfather's untimely death in 1982. Ethel went to be with the Lord on March 2, 1988, a few years after they had both been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Bop lived on until the Lord called him to join his wife in Heaven on October 23, 1989, two months shy of his ninety-fourth birthday. He was survived by three of his four children, twelve grandchildren, and a several great-grandchildren.
An interesting (and funny) story about him was when he registered to be included in the "Old Man Draft" of World War II, and the interviewer asked him how tall he was. Bop, a squat man no taller than 5'7", answered with a chuckle, "what do you think I am? Five-ten?" The man said, "sure, you could put that if you want," and so he wrote that down in the answer space. His father Harry was a tall man around 6'2", and many of his brothers and his eldest son towered over him as well.
When Henry was eighteen, he was out to market buying groceries for his family when he stumbled upon a pretty girl named Mary Ethel Ervine. He walked up to her, and said that one day, they would get married. Ethel, as she was called, made a funny face, and said he was gross, as she was only ten at the time. However, sure enough, on October 6, 1920, they tied the knot. Ethel was by this point a strong-willed, godly woman who would their shared values into the three sons and one daughter they would have. They were married for nearly sixty-eight years, and stood strong when times were tough, and their bond with each other and with God strengthened even further as they coped with my grandfather's untimely death in 1982. Ethel went to be with the Lord on March 2, 1988, a few years after they had both been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Bop lived on until the Lord called him to join his wife in Heaven on October 23, 1989, two months shy of his ninety-fourth birthday. He was survived by three of his four children, twelve grandchildren, and a several great-grandchildren.
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