Darrell E. Blakeman

Darrell E. Blakeman, 86, of Norvell Township, passed away on February 1, 2021, at Brightside Assisted Living. Darrell was born October 10, 1934, in Norvell Township to Harvey and Bertha Fern (Pittman) Blakeman. He was a 1952 graduate of Napoleon High School and went on to work for 45 years at Ford Motor Company as an engineer, never having missed a day of work and winning an award for that. At Ford, his greatest pride was developing a new plant in Mexico called Car Plastic where he resided for two years. Darrell was an avid golfer and played in two leagues for many years; he was a faithful Red Cross blood donor through the years.

Darrell is survived by his wife, of 47 years, Nila (Moses) Blakeman; son, Mark (Karen) Blakeman; daughter, Wendy (Michael) Foster; step-children, Brian (Brenda) Carpenter and Cheryl (Tim) Potter; six grandchildren, Harvey Blakeman, Todd (Rachel) Carpenter, Bethany (Nathan) Johnson, Travis Hath, Hannah Potter and Silas Potter; five great-grandchildren; brother-in-law, Gerry Merz and sister-in-law, Kaye Blakeman; many nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by his first wife, Evelyn (Schmitz); sister, Beverly Merz; brother, Dale Blakeman; brother-in-law, LeRoy Schmitz; and sister-in-law, Norma (Norman) Reese.

His family would like to give a special thank you to all the staff at Brightside Assisted Living, especially Meghan, Kat, Melissa and Ashley for their excellent care over the past three years.

Services were held at Community Bible Church, 8400 Sharon Hollow Road, Manchester on Saturday, February 6, 2021, with Pastor Ron Clark officiating. Interment at Oak Grove Cemetery in Napoleon followed the services. For those who wish, contributions may be given in Darrell’s memory to Youth Haven Ranch, P.O. Box 97, Rives Junction, MI  49277 (www.youthhaven.org) or the American Red Cross. Services were under the care of Arthur-Day Funeral Home in Michigan Center (www.arthur-day.com).