Blankenship, Nellie Elizabeth Mitchell of Maryville, died Thursday, July 12, 2001 at the Life Care Center of Morgan County in Wartburg, following a long decline in health. Mrs. Blankenship was born on May 10, 1912 in Martinsburg, Nebraska, the second of 12 children of Mary and George Mitchell. In 1922, when she was ten, the family moved to California in a 1918 Model T Ford touring car with what possessions they could fit among the seven children and two adults. They camped in a tent and in caves, cooked outside and once shared the tent with several other people during a thunderstorm. Mrs. Blankenships father kept a large pistol strapped to the steering wheel to ward off outlaws and animals and once he pulled it on a man who tried to run them off the narrow road during the 28 day trip. Desert crossings were made on roads consisting of wooden planks tied together with ropes. The family settled in Artesia, California, where five more children were born. In 1929, John Blankenship traveled with his parents, Charley and Pearl Blankenship, of Greenback, to California to visit relatives where he met Elizabeth Mitchell. They were married September 20, 1931 in El Monte, California. After several years of moving back and forth between California and Tennessee, they settled in Greenback, where they raised three children, Betty, Alice and John Jr. In 1967, Mr. & Mrs. Blankenship moved to Shady Lane, near Maryville where they enjoyed retirement with numerous neighbors. Mr. Blankenship died in 1984 and Mrs. Blankenship continued to live at Shady Lane until 1999. Mrs. Blankenship was a homemaker, a 50 year charter member of the Greenback Order of the Eastern Star and attended Fairview Methodist Church. Survivors include a sister, Vivian Mason of Sacramento, CA; brother, Richard Mitchell of Los Angeles, CA; daughters & sons in law, Betty & Aubrey Murr of Greenback and Alice & Buford Pippin of Sulphur, LA; son & daughter in law, John & Dianne Blankenship of Wartburg; five grandchildren, James A. Murr, Sarah Murr, Cindy Newman, Alice Treadwell and David Blankenship; four great grandchildren and numerous nieces & nephews. Funeral service 3:00 pm, Sunday, July 15, 2001, Trinity Chapel, Smith Mortuary. Entombment will follow at Sherwood Memorial Gardens. Memorial donations may be made to the Greenback Order of the Eastern Star #401. Friends may call at their convenience to Smith Mortuary after 12 noon Saturday. The family will receive friends from 2:00 pm until 3:00 pm, Sunday, Trinity Chapel, Smith Mortuary, Maryville, 865 983 1000.