John Cecil Blackshire's Obituary
John Cecil Blackshire, 91, of Fayetteville, died September 18, 2014. .
John was born July 26, 1923 at Bellefonte, Arkansas, the son of Plaut Leslie and Ella M. Dickson Blackshire. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, James Blackshire and Robert Blackshire and by two sisters Ruth B. Kinsey and Jane B. Roberts. He is survived by his wife, Helen F. Blackshire of Fayetteville. John and Helen were married in Springdale 69 years ago on March 11, 1945. He is also survived by daughter, Ann Blackshire and her husband Don Weber of Plano, Texas; son, John C. Blackshire Jr. and his wife, Susan Blackshire, of Austin, Texas; granddaughter Abigail Blackshire and her husband Joseph Blackshire and great-grandson Gideon Blackshire, of Craig, Alaska; grandson John C. Blackshire III, of Littleton, Colorado; granddaughter U.S. Army Captain Miranda Fountain and her husband Jeremiah Fountain, and great-grandson Noah Fountain of Imperial, Pennsylvania; and his sister, Mary Blackshire Bullock of Fayetteville; as well as nine nieces and nephews and their children.
John was a graduate of Bellefonte High School, 1941. Following his service in the U.S. Army Enlisted Reserves, 1942-43, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to March 1946, during which he attended the University of Oklahoma, Harvard University and served as Paymaster on the USS Catoctin, Asiatic Pacific Campaign. He graduated the University of Arkansas with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. in Business Administration in 1947. He also received an M.B.A. in 1973 from the University of South Carolina.
John’s careers started while he was in Fayetteville attending the University and working for his brother-in-law, Randall Roberts at Moore’s Chapel in 1942. Following graduation, he was an engineer for Crossett Paper Mill in Crossett, Arkansas from 1947 until 1950 when he returned to Bellefonte to establish a seed operation with his father on his parents’ farm. In 1956, John and Helen with their two children moved to Sylacauga, and then Childersburg, Alabama, where John worked as an engineer for the Coosa River Newsprint Company. In 1961, John accepted a position as Project Engineer for Sonoco Products Company in Hartsville, South Carolina. In 1977, John left his position as Engineering Manager for Plant Operations at Sonoco to move back to Fayetteville where he earned his CPA Certification in 1979 and established an accounting firm in Springdale. He enjoyed his career as a local accountant until 1998.
John spent his retirement years playing golf and enjoying visits with his grandchildren, in between time spent on his favorite occupation – examining how things operate and how to “engineer” a better one.
Graveside service will be 2:00 p.m., Monday, September 22, 2014 at Bluff Cemetery in Springdale, under the direction of Moore’s Chapel. Memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Association for Research, 210 N. Walton Blvd., Bentonville, AR 72712.
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