Charles William Blankenship, age 88 of 832 College Dr. Cedartown, Georgia, passed away on January 21, 2012. Mr. Blankenship was born on August 15, 1923, the son of the late Robert Austin Blankenship, Sr. and Lelia Pruitt Blankenship.

Mr. Blankenship retired from Atlanta Gas light Company in 1986 after 39 years and 6 months employment. He was the Regional Manager for Atlanta Gas Light Company in the Cedartown Rockmart Polk County area at his time of retirement.

Mr. Blankenship was preceded in death by his former wife, Earleen Coheley Blankenship; a twin brother, George Wesley Blankenship; brothers, Albert Sidney Blankenship, Sr. and Robert Austin Blankenship, Jr.; two sisters, Frances Blankenship Smith and Sybil Blankenship Youngblood. He is also preceded in death by a step-son, William Brian Watford.

Mr. Blankenship was a member of the First Baptist Church of Cedartown and previously served as a deacon at Riverside Baptist Church in Rome and the First Baptist Church of Rockmart. He was a veteran of World War II serving with the U.S. Army, 20th Engineer Combat Battalion. He served overseas in Africa, Sicily, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg Austria, and Czechoslovakia. He served in two amphibious landings and was in Sicily on June 13, 1943, in France at Omaha Beach on D-Day June 6, 1944, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Germany in 1944.

Mr. Blankenship is survived by his wife, Genevieve Phillips Blankenship; and a sister, Doris Blankenship Herrington of Portal, Georgia. Also surviving are 2 stepsons, Robert Askew Watford and John Phillips Watford and wife Donna of Cedartown. Four Grandchildren and several nieces and nephews also survive.

The funeral service for Mr. Charles William Blankenship will be conducted on Tuesday January 24, 2012 at 1:00 in the afternoon in the chapel of Olin L. Gammage & Sons Funeral Home with Dr. David Taylor, Rev. Wayne Benefield, and Mr. Albert Sidney Blankenship, Jr. officiating.

Interment will follow in Eastview Cemetery in Rome, Georgia at 2:30 p.m. with Full Military rites conducted by the Brown & Wright American Legion Post 12 Honor Guard of Rockmart, Georgia.

The family will receive friends on Monday January 23, 2012 from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. in the evening at the Gammage Funeral Home.

John Phillips Watford, Robert Askew Watford, Sean Michael Watford, Albert Sidney Blankenship, Jr., K. Stanley Walker, and Russell Pruitt Harrington will serve as pallbearers.

Flowers will be accepted; however memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church memorial fund in honor of Mr. Charles William Blankenship.

The Olin L. Gammage and Sons Funeral Home is handling the arrangements for Mr. Charles William Blankenship.