Aaron Edward Blackburn

Aaron Edward Blackburn, 43, of Fort Thomas, Ky., died October 26, 2018, following a brief illness.

He was born January 22, 1975, in Chillicothe, Ohio, to the late Samuel Blackburn and Linda Ziegler. In March 2013 he married his long-time best friend and love of his life, Kayla (Dunlap) Blackburn, who survives.

Aaron is also survived by his dear brother Jeremy Blackburn, whom Aaron fiercely loved, protected, cared and fought for his entire life. Aaron's relationship with Jeremy taught everyone who knew them the meaning of compassion and loyalty.

In addition to his mother and father, Aaron was predeceased by his grandparents Leo and Julia Blackburn and Edward and Rita Ziegler, as well as his beloved dog Sissy.

He attended Chillicothe High School and graduated from Unioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1993. He attended the University of Cincinnati, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity. Aaron was one of those rare people who made close friends across many social circles and pursued the interests he loved without regard for labels. As one example, he was a Boy Scout throughout high school, including working at Chief Logan Reservation Boy Scout camp teaching young scouts waterfront skills. Simultaneously, he was an influential part of the central Ohio punk scene. It's no surprise that his loss has brought together old friends from across geographies and backgrounds to share memories of their friendships with Aaron.

Among the many adventures of his life, Aaron served in the Kosovo Force, the NATO peacekeeping mission that helped to stabilize Kosovo during the Yugoslavian and Serbian ethnic cleansing in the late 1990s. He also served as a probation officer specializing in domestic violence and sexual offenses in Tucson, Ariz., and as a case manager for Mentoring Plus, the teen mentoring program in Newport, Ky. During the past few years he re-discovered his passion for swimming, which led him to take a dream job as aquatics director of the Campbell County/Greater Cincinnati Area YMCA in January 2018.

Aaron's additional broad range of passions included his dogs (Julia and Leo, named for his grandparents), Trivial Pursuit, NPR, LEGO (especially Star Wars and Game of Thrones themed), politics, tennis, wrestling, the military, his Nissan 350Z, Storm Troopers, the Cincinnati Reds (and Pete Rose), pottery (especially Kayla's) and the TV show "Breaking Bad." His favorite music included Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles' "Abbey Road," and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Anyone who became friends with him on his highly entertaining social media pages enjoyed his vocal distaste for giant Hummer limos, which he turned into the popular "give a Hummer the bird" photo contest online.

Endearing details made Aaron a man who anyone would want to know. For example, each night he would light candles and prepare a cheese plate for his wife as she came home from work. He cherished the Indian costume that his mother hand made for him as a child. One of his favorite moments was meeting "The Lady Chablis" (known best from her appearance in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) in person. She left a kiss mark on him that lasted all the way to New Orleans, because it wouldn't wash off. Aaron was overjoyed.

One friend suggested a perfect quote to describe Aaron from the character Augustus McCrae in one of Aaron's favorite books, Lonesome Dove: "Cheerful in all weathers. Never shirked a task. Splendid behavior."

A celebration of life will be held in January 2019 in the Cincinnati area; details will be announced. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The Point Arc of Northern Kentucky at 104 West Pike Street Covington, KY 41011 or online at www.thepointarc.org.