David Louis Blackwell

David Louis Blackwell, son of the late Hiram and Fannie Young Blackwell, was born on October 17, 1917 in Lillian, Virginia, a small city in Northumberland County. He departed this life peacefully on Friday evening, February 18, 2005.Louis, as many people called him, moved with his family, from Lillian, Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland when he was a child. He grew up in West Baltimore with his three brothers and three sisters and attended St. Peter Claver Catholic Church. He attended the Baltimore Public Schools and, as a young man, discovered that he was gifted with activities that involved the use of his hands.He, later, joined the United States Army after high school and was honorably discharged after serving in the World War II. While stationed in Fort Lee, Virginia, he met and subsequently married the late Clementine Cooper Blackwell of Petersburg, Virginia. Using the skills he learned in the Army, he was blessed to be one of the first African American men to work as a certified welder with the Virginia Gas and Electric Company in Petersburg. After working with the gas company, he moved to Long Island, New York and opened up a shoe repair business with one of his god-brothers, Carl Garries. After he retired from the business, he utilized his skills to work with the VFW Post in Wyandanch, New York. There he helped to renovate and expand its building.Following a long illness, he was brought back down to Baltimore to live with his youngest daughter, Beverly, who, with his daughter, Tammie and the rest of her family, devoted much of their time and efforts in restoring him back to health. As he recovered, he was an active participant in the Superior Adult Day Care Center in Randallstown. There he enjoyed interacting and entertaining his friends with “tall tales” and other amusing stories. Louis was a kind and generous man who loved to laugh and who made friends wherever he went. Everyone who really knew him will miss him.Those who will cherish his memories include his four daughters, Beverly Gay Wright, Rev. Debyii L. Sababu Thomas, Genevieve Elizabeth Plater, and Pauline “Billie” Frazier Williams; his twenty-one grandchildren, Eric Darnell, David Keith, Tammie and Faith (Beverly), Micah, Michael Jakim, Mecii and Melech (Debyii), Pamela, Annette, Angela, and Zina (Genevieve), and Wanda Phillip, Sennetta, Antoinette and Steve (Pauline); his great grandchildren, including Ayanna, Briana, Isaiah, Imani, Meesha and wisdom; his sister-in-law, Catherine Cooper Williams; his two son-in-laws, Charles Wright and Rev. Michael O. Thomas; his two granddaughters-in-law, Tammi and “Bea”, and a host of other precious nieces and nephews, relatives and friends.

Tributes

David Louis Blackwell

October 17, 1917 - February 18, 2005