Gary Dean Blankenship

GARY DEAN BLANKENSHIP, 72, of Crandon, VA, passed away Monday, October 16, 2023 at his home. He was born May 4, 1951 in Bland, VA, the son of the late Raymond Kenneth & Alleta May Durham Blankenship.

Gary was a simple, home body who enjoyed spending time out on the farm. He was a Corrections Officer at Bland Correctional Center for many years. He enjoyed sports and was an avid Dale Earnhardt and New York Yankees fan. 

Left to cherish his memory are his daughter & son-in-law, Angela & Derek Rhoton; his sister & brother-in-law, Vickie & Tommy Kitts; his daughter’s mother, Carol Blankenship; special nieces and nephews, Brooke Cox and her children, Dakota, Mason and Shiloh, Brandon Kelley, Stephanie & Scott McCroskey and their children, Sophia and Brayden, Matthew Newberry and Sarah & Heath Moore and her son, Jared King; his special friends and neighbors, Elmer Chewning, Jack Mustard and Richard & Mary Lou Goins; and his cat, “Sam.”

Funeral services will be held Friday, October 20, 2023 at 2:00 P.M. at A. Vest & Sons Funeral Home Chapel, White Gate, with Pastor Brian Consley officiating. Burial will follow in Mechanicsburg Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 1:00 P.M. until service time, 2:00 P.M.

The Blankenship family is in the care of A. Vest & Sons Funeral Home, White Gate, avestandsons.com, (5400 921-2985.