Obituary of Mary Marie Blankenship

A Time of Remembrances for Mary will be 1:00 p.m., Friday, August 14, 2015, at the Pence ~ Reese Funeral Home in Newton. A visitation with the family will be one hour prior to the services. In lieu of flowers memorials have been designated to Mary's family, in her name. Interment will be in the Silent City Cemetery in Monroe. Mary Marie Blankenship, 63, the daughter of Wendell Anthony and Margaret Marie (Ver Dught) Roseburrough, was born January 27, 1952, in Newton, and was a graduate of the Newton Schools. On September 24, 1994, Mary was united in marriage with James Ernest Blankenship in Delaware. She devoted her life to her husband and family, and was a member of the V.F.W. Auxiliary in Delaware. Formerly of Newton, she was a residents of the Marengo, IA area, and had lived in Delaware, and then Texas for nineteen years. She enjoyed animals, especially horses, and going fishing. She was a shrimp boat owner and operator in Corpus Christi, TX; she drove trucks with her husband James, and at one time was the Assistant manager for a Happy Harry Drug Store in Wilmington, Delaware. Mary Marie died Monday afternoon, August 10, 2015, at the St. Luke's/Unity Point Hospice in Cedar Rapids. She was preceded in death by her parents. Those left to honor Mary's memory include her husband James of Marengo; her son Larry Benton of Texas; a brother Rev. Michael Roseburrough of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; her cousins; and many family and good friends in New Castle, Delaware.