James R Blackburn

James Rephord Blackburn was born September 11, 1955, in Pikeville, Kentucky to Finis and Shirley Blackburn. As a child, he lived in several places such as Maine, Spain, England, and Guam, among others, traveling with his father who served in the Air Force. He graduated from San Antonio High School and immediately entered the Air Force. He was trained as a weather observer and forecaster and received more opportunities for travel including tours to Panama and Germany. Jim left the Air Force in about 1979 and secured a job in Bismarck, North Dakota with the National Weather Service. In Bismarck, he met his wife Wendy Grayce Weber and re-entered the Air Force. He and Wendy were married in July of 1982. They lived in Temecula, California, for one year before moving to Athens, Greece. His next tour of duty was in Omaha, Nebraska and then he retired from the Air Force in Colorado Springs and moved to Carson, ND. While in Carson he started his own solar water pumping business as well as doing computer work for the newspaper, local, school, a salt distribution company, and the county auditor's office. He was a volunteer ambulance driver and served on the hospital board and was also a church treasurer. Jim moved the family back to the Omaha area in 2002 to work at Northrup Grumman as a software asset manager. He was also active in the Cass County Republican Party serving as treasurer for several years. He retired in 2012.



Jim is survived by his wife, Wendy of Bellevue; children, Micah, Matthew, Rebecca, and Zack all of the Omaha area; parents, Finis and Shirley Blackburn of Defuniak Springs, Florida; sister Melissa Groves and brother Charles Blackburn also of Defuniak. Jim loved traveling, computers, and RV camping. He had very eclectic tastes in music, enjoying European Rock, Russian classical, and Bluegrass. Jim loved helping people. He was never one to seek public recognition, but preferred working behind the scenes.



Services:

Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 10AM at John A. Gentleman Mortuaries 72nd Street Chapel