Burton Dale Blankenship, 89, son of A.B. (Jim) and Grace (Wilson) Blankenship, went to his heavenly home after a lengthy illness, August 22, 2021.  He was born March 12,1932 in Solo, Missouri.

In 1952, two years after graduating from Houston High School in 1950, Dale enlisted in the United States Army.  During his Army service, Dale served his country at Camp Pickett, Virginia; Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas and at Fort Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska.  During that time he rose to the rank of Corporal and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal.  Dale was honorably discharged in 1955.

After his Army service and following some interesting jobs, Dale found his true passion for engineering when he went to work for Jane & Ken Meyer at Meyer Communications.  Dale worked with Ken to set up and maintain radio and television stations in a number of states, as well as starting in Springfield with KMTC-Channel 27, then the ABC affiliate. From stories he told his family and friends, there were many unique experiences keeping the stations running and Dale met many interesting people during those years.  One of the most unusual occurrences was when the broadcast tower at Fordland fell to the ground and they had to quickly find a way to get the KTXR back on the air.  Fortunately, Dale had a good team and they accomplished the task.

In 2018, Dale celebrated 50 years of service with Ken Meyer and the Meyer Communications family.  He retired as Chief Engineer for the company in 2020.

Dale began his Christian life at a young age following his baptism at New Hope Baptist Church in Solo, Missouri. In later years Dale was an active member at Fremont Hills Baptist Church in Ozark, Missouri as long as his health permitted.

Dale is survived by a son, Jackie Dale Blankenship, Springfield, Missouri; granddaughter Alisa Blankenship, Springfield, Missouri; sisters, Ellen Henderson, Springfield; Sandra (Ron) Craven, Houston, Missouri; Nancy (Nick) Heavrin, Mountain View, Missouri and several cousins, nieces, nephews and many friends.

Preceding Dale in death was his wife, Judi Wadkins Blankenship, his parents, and brother, Richard Thomas (Dickie) Blankenship, his grandparents and many other relatives.

Services will be Friday, August 27, 2021 at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. Visitation will begin at 1:00pm with the service at 2:00pm.  There will be private interment at Missouri Veteran's Cemetery at a later date.

Memorial donations may be made in Dale's honor to Fremont Baptist Church, PO Box 1453, Nixa, Missouri 65714