1955 - 2010

LYLE C. BLEVINS, 54 years, passed away peacefully Saturday morning, September 4, 2010, at Lone Tree Farm, his home in rural Decatur, after a courageous struggle with throat cancer. His sisters were with him at the time of his death.

Lyle was born October 27, 1955, in Oakland, Nebraska, the son of Clinton Edward Blevins and Elna (Ekstrand) Blevins. He grew up on Lone Tree Farm, and attended Busse School, District 10, from kindergarten through the sixth grade. He was active in the Lone Tree Valley 4-H Club and had a passion for baseball. Lyle began playing with the Decatur Pee Wees, and his love of baseball continued for the rest of his life, both as a “lefty” pitcher with a wicked fast ball and as a spectator of the Yankees from his favorite vantage point: the right field bleachers.
 
Lyle attended Decatur High School, graduating in 1973, and attended JFK College in Wahoo, Nebraska, where he played on the college baseball team. He transferred to Wayne State College in 1974 and was active in student government, serving as the student body president his senior year. He graduated from WSC in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree in physical education and would later acquire his Master’s degree in 1996.

In the summer of 1979, he decided to visit friends in New York City. That “short” visit ended 25 years later, when he moved back home to Lone Tree Farm. When he first moved to New York, he worked as a paralegal for the Wall Street firm of Ford, Marrin, Esposito, & Witmeyer for four years before he quit to do some traveling. He hitchhiked from New York to Seattle and spent six months backpacking in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. He then returned to New York and began teaching.

His first job was at the vocational school Park West, and after two years, he transferred to the High School of Art and Design where he taught Physical Education and Health and coached baseball, basketball, and volleyball. He led his basketball team to two city championships, with a team of “artists” that were never expected to be able to play the game.

An avid sports fan, he loved Husker football and Yankee baseball. His fierce competitive nature was evident in everything he did, from playing golf and backgammon to the annual chess tournament he played with his nephews. He had a sharp sense of humor, evident in his weekly “Uncle Lyle’s Top 10 List”–a humorous and sometimes caustic synopsis of the college football weekend.

He spent his summers in Decatur and enjoyed quiet days devoted to golf, playing guitar, and researching family genealogy while playing a vital and supportive role in the lives of his five nieces and nephews.

Lyle had an adventurous spirit, content to travel with only his backpack and his thumb to get him where he was going. He became interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition and spent many summers researching and retracing their voyage. His love of travel led him to explore the United States from coast to coast before sending him across oceans to Sweden and Spain.

When he returned to the Lone Tree Farm acreage that had been his childhood home, he spent his time repairing the farm outbuildings, mowing, gardening, and, last year, tried his hand at raising chickens.

He was preceded in death by his parents Clinton E. Blevins and Elna Ekstrand Blevins.

Survivors include  his sisters, Marilyn Blevins Wanamaker and her husband, Duane, of Dakota City, Nebraska, and Norma Blevins Farrens and husband, Tom, of Decatur; nieces and nephews Chris Wanamaker of Norfolk, NE, Jessica Wanamaker Pedersen and her husband, David, of Lawrence, KS, Nick Wanamaker and Melissa Monie of Lincoln, NE, Abbie Farrens Syrek and husband, Ryan,  of Omaha, NE,  Cody Farrens and fiancée, Heidi Lammli, of North Sioux City, SD; great nieces and nephews, Dracen, Beckston, and Elina Pedersen, Madeline Rose Farrens.

MEMORIAL SERVICE: Sunday, September 12, 2010, 5:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Decatur.

VISITATION with the family will be one hour prior to the service.

INTERMENT: Hillcrest Cemetery, Decatur.

MEMORIALS may be directed to the family, Hospice of Siouxland, or Decatur Fire and Rescue.

Please feel free to send your condolences to the family.
Each condolence will be printed and given to the family after the service.