VOORHEESVILLE — Frederick Blackman was a loving, caring man, who “always took care of his family; always put his family first,” his daughter Sharon Youmans said.

Mr. Blackman died on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, in Seneca, South Carolina. He was 96.

Frederick Robert Blackman was born on April 11, 1922, in Voorheesville, to Frederick and Caroline (née Stutrun), both of whom worked for the New York State Department of Health.

Mr. Blackman was a member of the first class to graduate from Voorheesville’s high school, said his son-in-law, David Youmans.

After graduating, he served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, as a member of the United States Marine Corps, and fought in the Battle of Tarawa.

Mr. Blackman met his first wife, Merle, while working for her father, at his gas station on Western Avenue. “He saw her one day and asked, ‘Who is she?’ and my grandfather said, ‘That’s my daughter,’” said Mrs. Youmans. The couple was married for 57 years, their union ending only with her death.

When he returned home after the war, Mr. Blackman worked as a machinist at the Watervliet Arsenal. He worked for General Electric; Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory; the Walter Motor Truck Company, on School Road, in Voorheesville; before last working at CMP Industries, retiring from that company in 1983.

Mr. Blackman had been the Scoutmaster of Troop 73, in Voorheesville, for many years, Mrs. Youmans said.

“My father liked to work with his hands,” his daughter said, “so he was always working on cars.” He also liked to hunt and camp, his son-in-law said, and the family had a camp in the Adirondacks.

Mr. and Mrs. Blackman lived in Voorheesville until he retired and then they moved to Palm Bay, Florida.

In February 1988, Mr. Blackman began working as a crossing guard for the Palm Bay Police Department; in August 1989, he was named supervisor. He retired, for a second time, in 2004, but continued to work as a substitute crossing guard nearly every day until his final retirement in 2012, at the age of 90.

Mr. Blackman married his second wife, Linda, in 2004; she died in September 2017, after which Mr. Blackman moved to the Lila Doyle Nursing Home in Seneca, South Carolina.

In retirement, Mr. Blackman joined the choir of a local Methodist Church, and became a performer in “The Living Last Supper,” a play that depicts Christ and his disciples the night before he was crucified as portrayed in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece of the same name.

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Frederick Robert Blackman is survived by his children, Sharon Youmans and her husband, David, of East Greenbush; Merrill Blackman and his wife, Jeannette, of Townsville, South Carolina; James Blackman and his wife, JaDonna, of Haymarket, Virginia; and by his  daughter-in-law, Sandra Blackman, of Queensbury, New York.

He is also survived by his five grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and by his sister, Doris Falzarano, of Inverness, Florida.

His first wife, Merle, died before him as did his son, Frederick; daughter-in-law, Fatima; grandson, Joseph; and his second wife, Linda.   

A funeral service was held on Nov. 10 in Palm Bay, Florida.

Memorial contributions may be made to Christ United Methodist Scholarship Fund, 7795 Babcock St. SE, Palm Bay, FL 32909.

— Sean Mulkerrin