Joseph Eddie Blankenship died at home on September 7, 2026 at the age of 85 years old. 

In the eternal and amazing Grace of Jesus Christ, Eddie is reunited with his Mom and Dad and other beloved family and friends in Heaven.

Eddie was born on April 7, 1941, the eldest child of parents Ed and Elsie. Eddie was a kind, soft-spoken and gentle man with a warm smile who loved his family deeply and treated all he met with respect and caring. He had a sharp mind and was always engaged with the world around him. He loved sports: especially golf, the Cleveland Guardians and Cleveland Browns, and his West Virginia Mountaineers.

Eddie married Mettie Cole in 1962 after they were introduced to each other by his best friend Robert Johnston and Mettie’s sister Easter Cole. Eddie and Mettie enjoyed 64 loving years of marriage in which they kept a safe, warm and loving home, raised four happy and healthy children who continue to make them proud. They hosted countless Thanksgivings, Christmases, and family celebrations. Their home was often filled with the laughter and the chaos of grandchildren and great grandchildren, followed by the peace and coziness of a nap on the couch while watching baseball.

Eddie was a member of Coal City Free Will Baptist Church where he was proud to have been saved more than 20 years ago. He was a graduate of Stoco High School where he played football and baseball and ran track. He served in the United States Air Force as an operating room technician before working as an underground coal miner and then as a nurse’s assistant and EKG technician at the Beckley VA Hospital. After years of hard-work he retired to spend the rest of his life being Dad and Popaw.

He was Dad to Michael Blankenship (Erika), Kevin Blankenship (Stephanie), Traci Morris, (Charles), and Joey Blankenship, (Brooke). He was Popaw to Tara, Justin, Chelsea, Jerrica, Sydney, Dakota, Nathan, Jacob, Jaycie, Madison, Shelby, Kyle, Grace, Matthew, and Ethan. He was Popaw B to his 13 Great Grandchildren. All are left to treasure his memory together.

Also left to cherish his memory are his brothers Jackie and Johnny, sister Benita, nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters in law, and many other beloved family and friends.

Funeral services will be held at on Friday, September 11, 2026 at 2 PM at the Amos E. Quesenberry Peace Chapel of Rose and Quesenberry Funeral Home, Beckley, WV with Rev. Charlie Brown officiating. Burial will follow at Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens, Prosperity, WV. Friends may visit with the family from 1 PM until service time on Friday at the funeral home.

Family and friends will serve as pallbearers.

“What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive.” - Arnold Palmer

Private online condolences and other expressions of sympathy may be directed to the family via our guestbook at www.roseandquesenberry.net.

Arrangements are by Rose and Quesenberry Funeral Home, 1901 South Kanawha Street, Beckley, WV.