Jess Blair
BIRTH 21 Nov 1924
Barber, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA
DEATH 4 Jan 2010 (aged 85)
Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA
BURIAL Fort Gibson National Cemetery
Fort Gibson, Muskogee County, Oklahoma, USA
Tahlequah — Jess Blair, 85, cook, died Jan. 4. Visitation noon-6 p.m. Sunday and service 11 a.m. Monday, both at Reed-Culver Funeral Home, and graveside service 2 p.m. Monday, Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Fort Gibson.
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Jess Blair, was born Friday, Nov. 21, 1924 at Barber, to Jesse T. Blair and Katie Evans Blair and died Monday, Jan. 4, 2010 in Tahlequah at the age of 85 years, one month and 14 days. He, and his family, moved to Blair Mountain when he was 4 or 5 years old. He attended Hastings school until he was about 10 or 12 years old, then he attended Dewight Mission, a boarding school, for two or three years and quit school and moved to Tulsa at the age of 17 and started work at a restaurant. At the age of 18 he was drafted into the armed forces, joining the Navy in 1943 and received his training in San Diego, Calif. and was stationed in Hawaii and served on the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Barnes serving in the South Pacific as a Aviation Machinist Mate 3rd Class during World War II for 2-1/2 years. He was honorably discharged in 1945. After his discharge he moved to Tulsa and worked at Cyclone Fence Company. In 1948, he re-enlisted and joined the Army. He served in Germany and during the Korean War he was stationed in Alaska for 36 months. He was discharged in 1955 at the rank of Staff Sergeant. After his tour in the military, he returned to Tulsa and started cooking at the Mayo Hotel. After several years, he moved back to Tahlequah and worked as a cook at the Restaurant of the Cherokees. In 1973 he went to work at the Hillcrest Restaurant where he met the love of his life, Bertha Shepard Evans. After moving to Chapman, Kan. he and Bertha married on Oct. 5, 1974. While there they both worked at the Trails End Best Western Motel and Restaurant. They later worked at the Pancake House in Junction City, Kan. In the late '70s they moved back to Tahlequah and worked at the Elegant Farmer. In 1981, they began owning and operating various restaurants in Tahlequah and were co-owners of the Chuck Wagon, with his brother Bob, in Stilwell, from 1998 until the summer of 1999, and moved to the Cort Mall Restaurant until retiring in June of 2000. He loved to cook for family and talking with friends. He was a member of the American Legion Post 15 in Muskogee and a lifetime member of the VFW Post 3707 in Tahlequah. He enjoyed dancing at the American Legion, fishing and listening to classic country music. He is preceded in death by his parents and grandparents; four sons, Leon, Eugene, Charles and an infant son; brothers, Jackson, George and Tom Blair; sisters, Pearl Sessions, Christine Blair and Eliza Blair Ussery. He is survived by his loving wife, of 35 years, Bertha of Tahlequah; daughter, Elsa Blair of Junction City, Kan.; granddaughters, Regina Damiano, Kimberly Thompson; grandsons, Marty Blair, Timothy Leon Blair; sisters, Lucy Allen, Margarette Nixon, Ester Watkins, Cherokee and Jim Beatts; a great-granddaughter and great-grandson; brothers, Bob of Tahlequah, Bill of Tahlequah, Levi of Sallisaw; mother-in-law, Becky Shepard of Welling, brothers-in-law, Alfred, Eugene, Delbert and Brian Shepard; sisters-in-law, Betty Jo Ragsdale, Lucille Ooshawee, Linda Winset, Angela Emaline Fuson and several nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 in the Reed-Culver Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Lloyd Kester officiating. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 at the Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Fort Gibson with military honors provided by the American Legion, Post 15 of Muskogee. Pallbearers will be members of the VFW, Post 3707 in Tahlequah. Visitation will be from noon until 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010 at the Reed-Culver Funeral Home.Reed-Culver Funeral Home, 117 W. Delaware, 456-2551.
Published in the Tahlequah Daily Press from 1/8/2010 - 1/9/2010
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46406843/jess_blair
