BLAIR, John B.

BLAIR, HAWTHORNE, COLE, GRAVENISH, DREFKE, DUNCAN, SHAFFER, SCOTT, SAMSEL, KRAEMER, BUNKER, CAFFEE, MOORE

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 9/12/2006 at 16:07:38

John B. Blair

MERIDEN, Iowa -- John B. "Jack" Blair, 75, of Meriden died Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005, at his residence embraced by the Lord.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Maryhill Visitation Catholic Church in rural Cherokee, Iowa, with the Rev. Gene Sitzmann officiating. Burial will be in Visitation Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m., at Greenwood Funeral Home in Cherokee.

Jack was born Feb. 28, 1929, in Yetter, Iowa, to Harry and Pearl (Hawthorne) Blair. He attended rural school in Yetter and graduated from high school in 1948, in Lake City, Iowa. Following graduation, he worked as a mason and truck driver. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War in 1951. Following his military service, he returned to Lake City and worked as a city policeman for several years. He later attended Barber College in Sioux City and apprenticed at the American Barber Shop in Cherokee.

In March 1955, he married Barbara Cole. Three daughters were born to this marriage. In 1958, he purchased a barber shop in Albert City, Iowa. When the American Barber Shop became for sale in Cherokee, he moved back to Cherokee and he barbered there. He later barbered at Lewis Hotel for 40-plus years, retiring in 1999.

On Oct. 9, 1985, he married Mary Gravenish at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa.

He was a member of Maryhill Catholic Church and a lifetime member of Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was an avid reader, a toy collector and loved driving in the country.

Survivors include his wife; his daughters, Susan and Mark Drefke of Sutherland, Iowa, Stacey and Tom Duncan of Bastrop, Texas, and Stephanie and Bob Shaffer of Sugarland, Texas; 11 stepchildren, David and Linda Gravenish, Dennis and Tam Gravenish, Duane Gravenish, Dean and Cindy Gravenish, and Dale and Karen Gravenish, all of Cherokee, Matt Gravenish of Meriden, Cynthia and Terry Scott of Fort Collins, Colo., Marilyn and Mick Samsel of Cherokee, Janet and Russ Kraemer of Santa Ana, Calif., Diane and Mick Bunker of Remsen, Iowa, and Karen Gravenish of Fairfield, Calif.; his sisters, Patty and Jack Caffee of LaJolla, Calif., and Harriet Moore of Farnhamville, Iowa; a brother, Jim and Kae Blair of Arvada, Colo.; 11 grandchildren; 19 stepgrandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and nine great-stepgrandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Marvin and Larry Blair; and three sisters, Virginia, Betty and Sylvia.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the St. Jude's Children's Research Facility in Memphis, Tenn.