Donald Eugene Blackburn

February 19, 2017

Mr. Donald Eugene Blackburn, age 91, a resident of Oak Ridge, Tennessee passed away February 19, 2017.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 7, 2017 at 3PM at Goshen United Methodist Church with Janice Whitworth officiating. A visitation will also be held on Saturday from 2:30-3PM at the church. His remains were interred in the Garden of the Last Supper in Oak Ridge Memorial Park, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Heritage Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Don was the fourth of five children born to Birton Dean and Kittie Lee (Page) Blackburn in Fort Myers, Florida where his father was working. The family soon returned to the Goshen Community of Maury County where Don’s parents had previously been long-time residents. There Don grew up on his father’s farm, which was adjacent to the Goshen United Methodist Church, where the family was actively involved. Like his brothers and sisters, Don was a bright and inquisitive child. When he was a very young boy, he began to acquire skills in his father’s workshop that would lead him into the machinist trade. His father, Birton, was very inventive and an exceptionally skilled machinist. Despite the differences in their personalities, Don followed his father’s example in many ways, and by the age of fifteen, Don left home to work in the metal trades and assist with the WWII War Effort at William North (Air) Field in Tullahoma. Also like his father, Don was thirsty for knowledge and was a voracious reader. Don took every opportunity to learn about the workings of the world through astute observation and reading. In his early years, he read encyclopedias and technical manuals and he continued to read scientific and historical publications and volumes until seriously impaired eyesight deprived him of the ability to read in his eighties.

Like his father and his brother before him, Don volunteered to join the United States Armed Forces during a World War. When he was seventeen, he enlisted in the United States Navy and, based on his ability and experience, was assigned to Naval Air Technical Training Center at Norman, Oklahoma. Having graduated as an Aviation Machinist Mate, he served in the Navy as an aircrew member, performing anti-submarine patrols in the South Pacific and, as the war with Japan came to a close, he served as Petty Officer 2nd Class Aircraft Hydraulics Spec. aboard the USS Antietam, CV 36.

To enhance his experience-based mechanical skills, Don completed college-level correspondence coursework following his honorable discharge from the Navy. After a short stint as a machinist at the Navy Yard in Charleston, SC, Don brought his accumulated machinist and math skills to the Oak Ridge Nuclear Facilities Y-12 plant. He worked there for almost 20 years before chronic health conditions brought a premature end to his career. At Y-12 Don was known as a Master Machinist with a keen intellect and a yen for perfection. He was very proud of his years of activity within the International Association of Machinists, working to highlight the critical importance of these employees to the overall mission at the Y-12 plant.

Subsequently, Don set out as a hobby inventor, targeting improvements to the internal combustion engine. Through tireless research, experimentation and networking with several friends and scientists in the Oak Ridge area, Don successfully secured three patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for ignition units improving the efficiency of spark-ignited internal combustion engines. Although the energy-savings and performance-enhancing claims of these designs were test-verified, commercial production eluded Don’s small company.

A lifelong Methodist, Don had an unwavering faith in God’s infinite design and a love for Creation. He eagerly awaited his “next assignment.” He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge at the time of his passing. One of his greatest joys came from mentoring young men and women, freely sharing his resources with the “little man.” Many remember him as a ready friend to the lonely and the needy. He was proud to be a member of the Free and Accepted Masons for almost 60 years, including several years of affiliation with Columbia Lodge No. 31, and with Faith Lodge 756 in Oak Ridge.

He is survived by his wife of thirty-seven years: Polly Summers Blackburn of Oak Ridge; children: Jerry (Charlene Luther) Blackburn of Sweetwater, Janice (Bill) Whitworth of Cookeville; step-children: Macy (Sherry) Summers of Pennsylvania, Robert (Terry) Summers of Knoxville, Dan Summers of Kingston, Claire (Roy) Conner of Knoxville, Sue (Wendell) Hamby of Kingston; cherished grandson: Reese Edgel of Sweden; and beloved sister: Dot (George) Horne of Columbia.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife: Ann Pierce Blackburn; children: Sandra and Charlene Blackburn; brother: Baxter Blackburn; sisters: Ruth Vaughan, Shannon Gray; and brothers-in-law: Doug Vaughan, Doug Gray, and Jesse Roberson.