Merrill Blackburn

Merrill Edward Blackburn, 88 years old, passed away on November 24, 2019 at Calvin Community in Des Moines. He was the son of Vivian (Jones) and Edward Blackburn, born on December 26, 1930 in Oelwein, Iowa. He grew up in Woolstock, Iowa and attended Woolstock High School but graduated from Shenandoah High School in 1948. He attended Simpson College and graduated then spent one year at Drake University. He married Betty Hargrave in 1955 in Webster City. For 30 years he owned his own accounting and tax service in South Des Moines. He worked for many types of companies in his time leading up to his extensive time with the accounting and tax service business. He worked for Samelson Company in the 50’s in Denver, Colorado, then onto Link Belt Speeder in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He took classes with the Internal Revenue, traveled with Federal Home Loan Bank Boards for several years, worked for Des Moines Hubbell Realty Company in the 60’s and moved onto Morgan Optical Company in Minnesota and back to Iowa Planned Parenthood, as well as buying and selling a Dairy Queen. He was a longtime member of Grace United Methodist Church. He also participated in square dancing with the Wagon Wheelers for 17 years in Des Moines. He found joy in cheering for the Chicago Cubs baseball team especially when they won the World Series, which was part of his bucket list. He also loved to travel. He is survived by his wife, Betty; and daughter, Rev. Leila Blackburn, (Jeffrey Leden) and one grandchild, Sarah Leden Blackburn. He was preceded in death by his parents and grandparents. Memorial contributions can be made to Grace United Methodist Church or the ARL.