Naomi C. (Smith) Blankenship

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Naomi Cecelia (Smith)  Stratton, Halverson, Blankenship

June 7, 1942 - February 5, 2019

Naomi was born in Portland, Oregon to Ramona and Leo Smith. She had two siblings, Steve and Mark Smith.

Naomi was a very loving, caring, considerate soul and a wonderful mother to her children. She supported their activities from being a scorekeeper for little league, to being a den mother for cub scouts and their other areas of interest. She was devoted to her family and fun-loving with a good sense of humor; dedicated and people oriented.

Naomi attended St. Mary’s Catholic School and graduated from Holy Child High School in Portland. She was married to Gary Melvin Stratton for 18 years, in that time they had three children together; Lance Kevin Stratton, Mark Allen Stratton, Melissa Noel (Stratton) Smalley, Carter, Mundy. During that time he was stationed in the air Air Force where he received training in HVAC maintenance, first in Duluth, Minnesota, later in Hebo, Oregon.

In 1975, she went back to school to become a certified nurses aide to support her children. At this time she worked at the Tillamook Toddlers Nursery School as an assistant with infants and preschoolers at the Tillamook Care Center as a C.N.A.

Naomi went on to marry Kenneth Francis Halverson, for 7 years, where he was Post Master for the Garibaldi Post Office and later worked in the Tillamook office. They had one child, Nicole Naomi (Halverson) Kiourkas.

In 1991, she continued her schooling with training in early childhood education and development, with a focus in special needs education. She volunteered for two years at the Tillamook ESD working with children with disabilities. This lead into a career where she continued her passion with educating small children.

Naomi’s marriage of 25 years to Walter James (Jim) Blankenship extended her family with his five children. Their merged family was comprised of 9 children, 20 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She joined Jim with raising a family and owning a dairy farm in Beaver, Oregon. During their time in Beaver she worked full time for ESD and also on the farm; feeding the calves their bottles, alfalfa and grain to the heifers and cows and washing out the milking parlor.  They sold the farm in 1998 and retired to Prineville for drier days and climate than the Oregon coast.

Naomi took part in many activities over the years and always had a open heart in volunteer work. She enjoyed square dancing, took many classes to enhance her knowledge and interests from ceramics; where she made most of her Christmas presents, to her interest in archeology and ancient Egypt. She was active in her church communities as president of the Catholic Alter Society and assisting in Sunday school. In recent years she worked at St. Vincent De Paul, preparing food boxes in the pantry and paperwork at the checkout desk. She also volunteered at the Prineville Memorial Hospital as a Lavender Lady for the Auxiliary helping patients.

Naomi will be missed beyond any sentiment can express and those that were blessed to be part of her life will forever cherish her memory.

She is survived by her brother Steve Smith. Children: Lance (Karen) Stratton, Mark (Kimberly) Stratton, Melissa (Logan) Mundy, Nicole (Tim) Kiourkas; Cindy Blankenship, Diana McCredie, Greg Blankenship, Tony Blankenship, Peggy Farrell. Grandchildren: Kevin, Brigitte, Erika, Thomas, Carrie, Ethan, Danny,  Jordan, Megan, Katherine, Ian,  Juanita,  Josh, Michael, Sarisha, Katina, Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah.

Donations may be made to: St. Vincent de Paul P.O. Box 545, Prineville OR 97754.

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