Dr. Lyle Blackwell
Dr. Lyle Blackwell died Sept. 1, 2008, in Kingsport, Tenn.
He was born in Charleston, W.Va., Jan. 29, 1932, to James Elvin and Sarah Margaret Ballard Blackwell, both deceased. He was their only child.
He was a graduate of Gauley Bridge High School, West Virginia University, Chrysler Institute of Engineering, and the Ohio State University, which he attended as a National Science Foundation Fellow, receiving the Ph.D. degree in 1966.
He married, in 1953, Mary Jean Fitzgerald, his high school sweetheart.
After graduation from WVU in 1954 with a BSEE he accepted a position at Chrysler Central Engineering and the couple moved to Detroit where their first two sons were born. The young family returned to West Virginia in the late 1950s and in the early 1960s he accepted a teaching position at West Virginia Tech where he remained for 30 years.
He was proud of the fact that when he assumed charge of Tech's engineering programs in 1966, not a single one was accredited by the appropriate national agencies, and when he left as Dean of Engineering, every engineering program was fully accredited and national engineering honor societies such as Eta Kappa Nu, Pi Tau Sigma, and the flagship society Tau Beta Pi had been established on campus. West Virginia Tech had become a legitimate and nationally known engineering school with a dedicated faculty and more than a thousand undergraduate engineering students.
He was a bit of a Renaissance man and had many interests. He loved travel; even after being diagnosed with lung disease, he determinedly packed up his pills and breathing apparatus and visited five continents. He was a voracious reader, a better than average photographer, sketched in pencil and in ink, painted in watercolor and oils, wrote books and bad poetry, and was a skilled modeler. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, loved camping in the outdoors and his hunting lodge in Virginia. He composed, arranged and conducted instrumental and vocal music, gave concerts, and loved his piano. Piano jazz was his passion and he played solo performances as well as with groups, most recently the Kingsport big band, the "Has Beens."
He was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, Phi Kappa Psi and IEEE and was a registered professional engineer.
He was among the longest continuous members of the Gauley Bridge Baptist Church (more than 65 years), serving, at one time or another, as Sunday school teacher, youth leader, church moderator, treasurer, and choir director.
In 1998 Lyle and Mary retired to Kingsport, Tenn., where they became associate members of the First Broad Street United Methodist Church.
He is survived by his devoted and loving wife of 55 years, Mary Fitzgerald Blackwell; their five children and families, son, Dr. Jim Blackwell of Summersville, W.Va., son, Dr. Jerry and Cindy Blackwell of Kingsport, Tenn., and grandsons Joey, Ryan and Brad, son, Scott Blackwell of Columbus, Ohio, and grandchildren, Michael Blackwell, Paul and Katy Dalton Rigsby and Patrick and Sarah Dalton Ortlieb and great-granddaughter, Emeila Ortlieb, daughter, Diane and Mark Pendleton of Hurricane, W.Va., and granddaughters, Meredith and Erin Pendleton, and son, Matt and Amber Blackwell of Columbus, Ohio, and grandsons, Lyle and Samuel Blackwell. He is also survived by his beloved aunts, Viola Tucker and Madora Ballard, as well as Karleen Dalton Blackwell and Bianca Blackwell.
Memorial contributions may be made to Gauley Bridge Baptist Church, P.O. Box 787, Gauley Bridge, WV 25085.
A memorial service was conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at Gauley Bridge Baptist Church, Gauley Bridge, W.Va. Burial was in the church cemetery.
The family received friends immediately following the memorial service.
Please visit hamlettdobson.com.
Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Homes, Kingsport, is serving the family of Dr. Lyle Blackwell.
