Walter "Buster" E. Blankenship Sr.

Walter E. Blankenship Sr., age 84, passed away at home on December 23, 2021. He was born July 24, 1937 to Floyd and Helen (Roberts) Blankenship in Missouri Valley, Iowa. He was a member of First Christian Church for over 45 years, Council Bluffs Archery Club, was one of the founders of the Pottawattamie County Archery and was a channel 7 Heartland Hero. He started his career at Rog & Scotties Grocery Stores as a bag boy and later became the meat manager for them he went on become the Midwestern district sales manager for Wilson Certified Foods. He won salesmen of the year several times. Walter was also a plant manager for Hudson Foods and retired from Nogg Brothers Paper Company. He ended his working career at Walmart for the past 15 years. Walter started the first church food pantry here in Council Bluffs and was the cofounder of For God's Children International that took clothing and medical supplies to Romania orphanages. Walter enjoyed camping with his family, fishing, square dancing and bowling. He was loved and will be sadly missed by family and friends.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by brother, Ronnie Blankenship; sister, Dorothy Davis.

Walter is survived by wife of 65 years, Mary Blankenship; children, Walter "Ty" Jr. (Sue) Blankenship, Mary K. (Kevin) Derby and Rory Blankenship; sisters, Connie Belt, Rosalie (Lincoln) Jones and Theresa Davis; 8 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; many family and friends.

Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. at Hoy Kilnoski on Saturday, January 8, 2022.

Memorials may be directed to FGCI International, P.O. Box 434, Council Bluffs, Iowa 51502.