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GOD BLESS YOU ALL! 

John Blackford

April 5, 1935 - July 8, 2006


John was born April 5, 1935 on Mill Street in Chauncey, OH. 

He was the youngest of 4 children.  He died July 8, 2006 in Amherst, OH.

John was very active in the Church of Christ where Rev. Courtney was

the minister, sometimes getting the heat going and cleaning the church. 

John was also active in Boy Scouts lacking one badge before he would

become an Eagle Scout.  On one of the outings with boy scouts, they camped

in W. V.  The Ohio River over flowed the banks and they were stranded. 

Mr. Davis, the Superintendent of Chauncey Schools was their troop leader. 

John was awarded the "C" monogram for being the baseball manger in

1951-1952.  He also helped with football and recalled many stories about

Bill Smith and the years the Blue Devils didn't lose any games.  He was so

proud that his little school in Chauncey held that title.  

 


NOTE:

Chauncey-Dover Alumni Banquet

is always the first Saturday in June. 

For 2017, that will be June 3rd.

This year the banquet will be held at

Lee's Banquet Haus, 580 Radio Lane,

Logan, Ohio 43138. 

Exit north off U.S. 33 at SR 328, left on

East Front Street, and left on Radio Lane - then on left. 


John did odd jobs like mowing people's lawns and working in the fields while still in school.  He also worked at Tubby Buffington's filling station in Athens, making .50 cents and hour.  Of course, he found time to get pop at Adbella's and play cards or checkers.  He would have to sit in the restaurant side since he wasn't old enough to go in the bar.  Oh, Abdella's was the place to get those hot dogs too.

While in high school, he and Chuck Fiske, a fellow student and best friend, discovered 8 mm film that was being put in the dumpster.  I believed these dated into the 1930's and 1940's.  John and Chuck ask if they could retrieve and keep them, of course the answer was yes.  Years passed and John took them to Chet Baughman in Chauncey to have them made into videotapes with clearer pictures, which turned out very good.  Later they were shown at one of the Alumni reunions and Gilbert Courtney had copies made for $10.00 each for anyone that wanted to purchase one.  Many watching, were surprised to recognize so many people.

After graduating in 1953, John went to work at North American Aviation in Columbus as a machinist.  He met Jeannine Stace July 4th 1954 and got married, by Rev. Courtney, December 11, 1955 and lived in Athens.  Not wanting to drive every day to North American, he was hired at McBee's in Athens, which was suppose to be a life time job?  While working there his first son, John David was born August 29, 1957.  In 1958 John was laid off from McBee's with no plans of being called back. 

John did odd jobs for people, worked at selling cars for Mr. Beasley at the Ford garage and worked in a clothing store to make ends meet. 

With no bright future of work locally, he got a call from his sister-in-law to come to Northern Ohio where there was work.  He was expecting his second child in June, and this was the middle of May so John left for Oberlin, OH.  On Monday, he put his application in at Bendix-Westinghouse in Elyria and got the call to come in for a physical on Wednesday.

Planning to move to Oberlin, he brought his wife and son to Oberlin with him to look for a place to live.  Jeffrey Allen was born in Allen Memorial Hospital in Oberlin, OH, June 3, 1959, three weeks early.   He found a place to move his family too, renting a U-Haul and making 2 trips in one day, moving into a second floor apartment and sharing the bath with the apartment on the third floor!   

While working in the machine shop at Bendix, he was offered a 4-year Tool and Die Maker apprenticeship in May of 1960, going to school nights and working days.  Day wages then was $1.98, plus, he was paid the same wage for his school hours.  That afforded us to move to a house outside of Oberlin.

In September of 1963 we bought our first house in Elyria, OH, closer to his work.   In 1965 John had an industrial accident of his left hand loosing part of his finger and damaging the nerves.  At first the Emergency Room Doctor said his hand was torn up so badly they would have to amputate.   Thanks to the specialist called in, he said it was repairable and would only have to remove part of a finger and repair the damaged nerves.  He regained moving most of his fingers and the use of his hand. 

While working in the tool room, one of John's fellow workers was a Ham Operator and got John interested Ham Radio.  He not only got his license; he began building his own radio equipment and antenna that became one of his hobbies. 

John finished his apprenticeship and was ask to go into the management level as a Methods Engineer then onto Manufacturing Engineer.  With these promotions, John had to travel to the Bendix Plant in Frankfort, KY, working there during the week and home on weekends for several years. 

In 1971 we moved to the outskirts of Oberlin where I still live.

In 1973 Bendix wanted John to move to Frankfort, KY and work.  He decided not to make the move, leaving family and friends in Ohio and his sons, 12 and 14 having to change schools. On that decision, he was put into the Maintenance Department at Bendix, which lasted for 2 years working the night shift.  That was the price he paid for turning Bendix down on moving. 

He finally was put back as a Manufacturing Engineer and started traveling to Mexico working on building a plant in Acuna, Mexico, also traveling to N.C., England and Canada helping build their plants.

During those projects he became a Senior Manufacturing Engineer, retiring in 1988 after 28 years.

After retiring John still was doing his Ham Radio and started doing video of family and friends weddings.  He would make videotapes putting music and headers just like you would see in the movies.  He loved working on those, plus, started a site for the Chauncey Dover Alumni.  He would take pictures at the reunions, put them on the site, plus, the Chauncey Dover Blue Devil.  That was another one of his loves thinking of his hometown and the people in it.  John was so proud to have come from such a small town and how so many people affected his life. 

John had a full life with many friends caring for each one of them.  He always told his grandsons, Matthew and Jarad, they can accomplish anything with hard work and determination.

Mrs. John Blackford


Here is a school picture of John age 9 or 10.


 

CHAUNCEY-DOVER ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Dear Alumni: You are cordially invited to attend our annual banquet on Saturday, June 3, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at Lee’s Banquet Haus, 580 Radio Lane, Logan, OH 43138. The event will begin with registration and social hour at 6:00 p.m. Dinner will cost $25.00 and begins at 7:00 p.m. Please be informed because of the cost of dinner and available seating, we will be not be able to accept walk-ins for the dinner. If you want alcoholic beverages you must bring your own as they do not have a permit for liquor sales. Reservations for the banquet must be returned to Judy Stanley, 3717 NW Mason Road, Canal Winchester, OH 43110 no later than May 26, 2016. Your payment must accompany your reservation in order to confirm your attendance. Please make checks payable to the Chauncey-Dover Alumni Association. If you enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with your reservation, your tickets will be returned to you and you will be able to avoid the ticket pick-up line on the night of the banquet. If you are celebrating a special year for your class, please remember that someone from your class is responsible for decorating and/or placing class year on the tables where you would like to sit. If you would like to make reservations to stay overnight, we have rooms blocked at the Holiday Inn Express, 12916 Grey Street, Logan, Ohio 43138 for Friday and Saturday nights. You must contact them directly at 740-385-7700. Please remember to tell them that you are with Chauncey-Dover Alumni Association to receive the discount price. Cost of the room is $148.00 plus tax. Please make your room reservation no later than May 5, 2016. After that date the rooms will be released to the public. There is a music festival at Hocking College that same weekend, so book your room early if you try other motels, as they may be hard to find. Thanks to all of you and your generous donation of $301.00 our Chauncey-Dover Alumni Association Endowment has a current balance of $54,409.80. Thank you for your donation of $154.00 to the Athens High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, please pick up a nomination form at the banquet or get in touch with our representatives, Tom Kranyik, Jerry Yates or Judy Stanley, to insure that our athletes are honored. Please remember that a C-D athlete must have a completed nomination form on file, as no one will be inducted without the nomination form being completed. We are still continuing to collect yearbooks and/or class (group) pictures to ensure our history at Chauncey-Dover for the Ohio University Library Archives and our website; chauncey-dover.com. If you have items for our archives please contact Archie Stanley. Nominations for the Honor Graduate Award are greatly appreciated. However, nominations are getting less and less each year. If you wish to continue this honor, please help by submitting your nomination along with your reservation. Look forward to seeing you on June 4. Jim Shumway Jim Shumway, President Chauncey-Dover Alumni Association Chauncey-Dover Alumni Association 2015 Final Report Banquet Fund Beginning Balance 2015 $ 1,222.86 Receipts for 2015 Scholarship Donations 2014 $ 301.00 Hall of Fame Committee $ 154.00 Dues $ 213.00 Dinner $ 2,182.00 Received Cash 6/6/15 (Dinner & Dues) $ 377.00 Total Receipts $3,337.00 Balance $ 4,449.86 Expenses for 2015 Banquet Dinner Expense $ 2,460.00 U.S. Postmaster (Envelopes) $ 310.00 Athens High School Hall of Fame $ 154.00 Scholarship Endowment Fund $ 301.00 Total Expenses $3,225.00 Balance $1,224.86 Banquet Checking Fund Balance $1,224.86 Chauncey-Dover Endowment Fund (1/1/2014) $54,281.00 Revenue 301.00 Expenditures (2 Scholarships) $ 2,500.00 Balance $52,082.00 Interest $ 2,327.80 Balance (12/31/2015) $54,409.80 Chauncey-Dover Alumni Banquet Registration 2016 June 4, 2016 Name________________________________________ Class of_______________________ Address______________________________________ e-mail________________________ Number of Banquet Reservations ($25.00 per person) $____________________ Alumni Dues ($3.00 per graduate) $_________ Hall of Fame Donation $__________________ Scholarship Endowment Donation$_________ Honor Grad Nomination ___________________________



Other Chauncey-Dover websites http://chaunceydoverclassof1953.20m.com http://www.ci.athens.oh.us/events/webcam.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohathens/chauncey.htm