Sylvia Blaney

Sylvia Blaney, 97, went to be with her husband and family in the Lord on October 11, 2023, at the Russellville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She was born in Pope County on October 21, 1925, to Leonard and Creola Jackson of Russellville. She spent her early years traveling back and forth between Russellville and Paris, Arkansas, while her father worked in the coal mines. They finally stayed in Paris when she entered high school and graduated from Paris High School in 1943.
Being adventurous seniors, Sylvia and her best friend prepared for jobs with the FBI in Washington D.C. during wartime, where they moved into a boarding house for young women. She met our father, a Marine from Quantico, and they married before he went to war for a year. She moved to his family's home in the Detroit area during the war and when he returned, they carved out a post-war life in the suburbs.
Sylvia worked as a bank teller and upon retirement from their jobs in Detroit, they decided to move to the Russellville area, build a home, and care for her aging parents. In the years that followed, each of her children and spouses came to live here and she watched most all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up.
Sylvia was blessed with a great singing voice and she loved singing solos and duets with our father at home and in church where they both belonged to the church choir for decades. She also loved sewing and, from early in her marriage until just a few years ago, she made many of her outfits. She was a member of the Sewing Club here in Russellville for a brief period.
Our mother was a dedicated soul to keeping things very neat, clean and orderly and she enjoyed working in her yard, as her neighbors could attest to, even in 95-degree weather. She and her husband were past members of the First United Methodist Church in Russellville. She was well-loved by all who knew her and she lived an incredibly blessed life.
Sylvia is preceded in death by her parents, Leonard and Creola Jackson, a brother and sister-in-law Ernest Lynn and Jane Jackson, her husband of 64 years Donald G. Blaney and her son Michael Blaney.
Survivors include a daughter Donna Park and husband David and their children Tim Park (Ruth), Ken Park and Charity Park (Ben), son Mark Blaney (Jackie) and children Walker Blaney, Andrew Blaney (Camille) and Chris Blaney (Kerry-Ann), Michael's children Robin and Martin, son Martin Blaney and wife Penny and their children Dillon (Jenn) and Sarah, and fourteen great grandchildren.
The immediate family will be having a private graveside memorial at Rest Haven Memorial Park in Russellville under the direction of Humphrey Funeral Service. The family requests, in lieu of flowers, that memorials be given to Brookdale Senior Living, 240 South Inglewood, Russellville, AR 72801.
Sylvia's internet obituary and online guestbook are available at www.humphreyfuneral.com.