Leo William Blakely
1922-2009
Photo shared by Vickie Graves Jones
from Fighting Men of Arkansas
Leo William Blakely was born July 26, 1922 in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., Ar. to
Leo Woodward and Lillian Rae Pendell Blakely. December 31, 1948 he
married Beatrice Elizabeth Hoke at Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania.
June 30, 1942 Leo registered for the military draft at Berkeley, California.
He enlistted in the Air Force December 3i, 1942 and served until March 31, 1965 as
a fighter pilot in World War II, Korea & Vietnam. His biography below
says his final rank was Captial. His obituary below says his final rank was
Colonel. Nothing more about his service has been found.
Leo William Blakely passed away September 19, 2009 at Battle Creek, Calhoun
County, Michigan. His burial was in Fort Custer National Cemetery at Augusta,
Kalamazoo Co., Michigan. No grave marker was found.
Biography shared by Vickie Graves Jones
from Fighting Men of Arkansas
"Times Record Obituary." Fort Smith, Arkansas. 22 Sept. 2009
Mr. Leo William Blakely, 87, of Battle Creek, Michigan; formerly of Fort
Smith, Arkansas, died Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. He was born July 26, 1922,
in Fort Smith, Arkansas to the late Leo Woodward and Lillian Rae (Pendell)
Blakely and was the widower of Beatrice Blakely. He graduated from Fort
Smith Junior College in 1942. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1942
until 1965, retiring as a Colonel, and was a P38 pilot with the famed 475th
Fighter Group in the Southwest Pacific during WWII.
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Following his retirement from the Air Force, he was a navigational aids flight
inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration from 1967 until 1987.
On December 31, 1948 he was married to the former Beatrice E. Hoke, who
preceded him in death on September 25, 1999. Surviving are his aunt: Margaret
Pendell of Phoenix, AZ; niece: Barb McCabe of Pennsylvania; cousins: Janet
(Steve) Stanton of Pasadena, CA, Jim Chapman of Las Vegas, NV, Carter Pendell
of Phoenix, AZ, Sally Roper of Fort Smith, AR, Sidney Blakely of Fort Smith,
AR and Gayle (Lewis) Nelson of Pasadena, CA; special friends: Burdette and
Shannon Bennett, Trina and Scott Niecko, Chelsie and Darian Niecko all of
Battle Creek, and Lonnie and Margie Mayo of Three River
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