Elbert Lee Blair (1920 - 2010)

Born 24 Jul 1920 in Mississippi

Died 25 Jul 2010 at age 90 in Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana

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Biography

Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana

Services for Elbert Lee Blair, 90, will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 28, 2010 in the chapel of Forest Lawn Funeral Home, Ball, with Reverend Chris Thacker officiating. Interment will follow in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Ball. Born on July 24, 1920 in Morgantown, Mississippi to the union of Homer and Hersie Pearson Blair, he departed this life on July 25, 2010 in at the Summit Retirement Center, Alexandria. Mr. Blair was a graduate of Sicily Island High School, Sicily Island, Louisiana, and a graduate of of Louisiana State University in 1949 with a degree in Landscape Architecture with a minor in Horticulture. He is a veteran of WWII in the European Theater, and of the Korean War, where he served as an air traffic controller and instructor in the Army Air Corps. During his working life, Mr. Blair worked in Blair's Nursery and retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 1987 as Finance Director. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development took the family home in 1970 when Highway 1 was four-laned and failed to properly pay for the exotic plants in the yard. Elbert Blair filed a civil suit that went all the way to the Louisiana Supreme Court, and won the case. This was a bench mark decision that has forced the highway department to pay fairer compensation to land owners for their property. He is preceded in death by his parents Homer Blair and Hersie Pearson Blair, and his four brothers, Jesse Blair, Cecil Blair, Roy Blair, and Faye Blair,; one sister, Lois Bryant; and infant son Dale Edwards Blair. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ella B. Adams Blair; son, Darrell Blair and wife Donna both of Alexandria, Louisiana; daughter, Amy Blair McKinney of Nashville, Tennessee; and four grandchildren, John Blair and wife Mandy of Bossier City, Louisiana, Stephanie Blair Carriker and husband Jet of Mesquite, Texas, Joshua McKinny of Provo, Utah, and Tamela McKinney Corley and fiance Kenny Lerma of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; one great-grandson, Morgan Lee Preston Corley of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and two sisters, Lucille Blair of Holloway, and Betty Jean Paulk of Shreveport.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMT2-D3L : accessed 18 July 2021), Elbert Blair in household of Homer F Blair, Police Jury Ward 1, Catahoula, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1, sheet 1A, line 21, family 4, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 783; FHL microfilm 2,340,518.

"United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8L7-FHL : 5 December 2014), Elbert L Blair, enlisted 17 Oct 1940, ; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/55507124/elbert-lee-blair : accessed 18 July 2021), memorial page for Elbert Lee Blair (24 Jul 1920–25 Jul 2010), Find a Grave Memorial ID 55507124, citing Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by debmcdaniel (contributor 47066047) .