Frederick Blackwell

Frederick R. Blackwell FLORENCE - Frederick Riley Blackwell passed away Saturday, February 27, 2016 at McLeod Regional Medical Center, with his loving family by his side. He was born in Gastonia, NC on March 8, 1925, the son of Iva Knight Blackwell and William Henry Blackwell. He grew up in Brandon Mill Village, in Greenville, South Carolina, and then moved with his family to Granby Mill in West Columbia, SC, as a teenager. After graduating from Brookland-Cayce High School, Mr. Blackwell joined the US Marine Corps, and served as a Corporal during World War II. After the war, he attended the University of South Carolina and graduated from The School of Law in 1955. He worked as an attorney for Sullivan and Cromwell, in New York, NY, and then for Cooper and Gary in Columbia, SC. He later relocated to Washington, DC, where he remained until his health declined in 2015. In Washington he worked for the US Senate, and later in a private Labor Law practice. Additionally, in Washington, he met and married Sonia Shiragian Blackwell, his loving wife of 53 years. He enjoyed politics, and law, and loved a great political discussion, and was surprisingly accurate in his predictions of the political climate. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother William, his brother Charles, his sister Juanita Blackwell Locklier and her husband David Locklier. He is survived by his wife Sonia, of Methodist Manor; his son Dr. Arshavir Blackwell of Los Angeles, CA; his daughter Elizabeth Blackwell Poston (Britt) of Florence; and his daughter Pinky Blackwell Verma (Richard) of New Delhi, India. Additionally, and to him most treasured, he is survived by his five grandchildren, whom he adored, and who adored him: Colby and Cooper Poston, and Zoe, Dylan, and Lucy Verma. Funeral services will be 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at The Mary Alice Ingram Chapel at Methodist Manor, with burial to follow in Florence National Cemetery, directed by Waters-Powell Funeral Home.