Willa H. Blakey

Saturday, November 9, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. at Waters Funeral Chapel.
Officiating will be: Rev. Richard Mayson.
Music provided by: selected favorite hymns.
Interment will be in the Vandalia Cemetery.
Pallbearers: Art Wiser, William Wheeler, Ronnie Greene, Kenneth Wheeler, Ronald Turner and Louis Connor. Honorary pallbearers: James Stapleton, Chan Holman, Leo Salmon, Matthew Salmon, Bill Cockrell and Walter Dixon.

Willa Harriett (Bishop) Blakey passed away at 7:20 a.m. on Monday, October 28, 2013 at St. Lukes Hospice House in Kansas City. She attended schools in Vandalia and also attended Gem City College in Quincy, Illinois. Willa spent many years in the Vandalia area but had also lived nearly 50 years in in Hannibal, Missouri. She had worked in a variety of positions during her lifetime. Her adult working career began when she was only 16 years old when she washed dishes at Whals Hotel in Louisiana, Missouri for two years. While living in Montgomery, Alabama she worked as a waitress and as a cashier at Adams Cafe before returning to her home town in Vandalia. She worked at the Vandalia Hotel for several years as a cook and housekeeper and she also worked for the Ely Walker Garment Factory in Vandalia. Willa was a supervisor over cleaning at the Maple Grove Nursing Home in Louisiana, Missouri and she worked for the Louisiana Plastics Factory. She then worked in a variety of jobs during her employment at American Safety Equipment Corporation in Palmyra, Missouri. While living in Hannibal, she worked at Master Tank & Welding Company for five years and she worked at Luther Manor Retirement & Nursing Center. Willa worked at Beth-Haven Group Homes and also part-time at Beth-Haven Group Homes as a cook and housekeeper for ten years. Her last job was in a part-time cleaning position with KHMO radio station in Hannibal.

Born: August 24, 1930 in Vandalia, Missouri the daughter of William McKinley and Arabell (Weir) Bishop.

Married: Hilary A. Horton Jr. on May 11, 1954 in Montgomery, Alabama; he preceded her in death; she married James E. Blakey on August 26, 1965 in Chicago; he preceded her in death on August 16, 1991.

Survivors include: three children: Jacqueline E. Horton of St. Louis; Brenda Joyce Horton Lue of Kansas City; James B. Blakey of Quincy; three grandchildren: Steven Horton of Phoenix, Arizona; Jamal Horton of Grandview, Missouri and Marissa Blakey of Quincy; two great-grandchildren: Erin Elizabeth Frazier of Kirksville, Missouri and Izan Almansa Perez of Murcia, Spain, all of whom Willa loved very dearly.

Preceded in death by: grandparents, Harry George Washington Weir and Margaret Gertrude Starks Weir; parents, William McKinley and Arabella (Weir) Bishop; husband, James E. Blakey; three sisters: Lillian Bell Bishop, Dee Etta Marie Bishop Lewis Connor Doolin and Margaret Elizabeth Bishop Burgett; two brothers: George Edward Bishop and Curtis William Bishop.

Memorials are encouraged to St. Luke's Hospice House, 3516 Summit Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.