Blackwell, William A.

William Allen Blackwell, 89, of Blacksburg, Va., departed this life on March 12, 2010. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas on May 17, 1920, to Charles C. Blackwell and Lillie Belle Hartsfield, who preceded him in death. A sister, Virginia Thompson, also preceded him in death. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps December 27, 1941, and served in the Middle East, European and China-BurmaIndia theaters in World War II, before being discharged September 16, 1945. With the help of the GI Bill, he earned degrees from Texas Tech University, the University of Illinois, and Michigan State University, in that order. In industry, he worked for General Electric and the Convair Division of General Dynamics. He taught in Electrical Engineering at Texas Tech University, the University of Illinois, Michigan State University, Southern Methodist University, Oklahoma State University, the U.S. Military Academy and Virginia Tech, where he served as department head of Electrical Engineering from 1966 to 1981. Surviving are his wife of 60 years, Sherry LaRue Tibbets, of the home; his son, David Allen Blackwell, of Blacksburg, Va.; his daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca and Richard Kates, of Blacksburg; and grandsons, William Scott Kates and Alan Whitfield Kates. Also surviving are a sister and brother-in-law, Charlie Ruth and Louis Bullington, of New Holland, Pa.; a brother and sister-in-law, Charles and Ann Blackwell, of Saratoga, Calif.; and a brother-in-law, Arthur Thompson, of College Station, Texas. He was a longtime member of the Blacksburg United Methodist Church and the Blacksburg Host Lions Club, and was a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. As a native Texan, he took pride in becoming a “naturalized” Virginian soon after he and LaRue moved to Blacksburg from Stillwater, Okla., some 43 years ago. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Bill and LaRue Blackwell Research Paper Award Endowment Fund (Virginia Tech Foundation) or to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital . Funeral arrangements are being handled by McCoy Funeral Home in Blacksburg.