Bobby Lee Blevins

1932 - 2025

Bobby Lee Blevins

February 29, 1932 - April 6, 2025

Bob Blevins was so determined to stand out that his very birth was a rarity. He was born on Leap Year Day February 29, 1932. Bobby spent the first six years of his life in Winston-Salem before moving to Wilkes County. He started sixth grade at Mountain View School and wooed one of his classmates, Ann Key, into dating him throughout high school. After graduation, Bob joined the Air Force and was stationed in Texas while Ann enrolled at Appalachian State Teachers College. Despite the distance, they kept courting and married on July 17, 1954. After a year living in Texas, they returned home, settling in Winston-Salem.

Bob worked for over 30 years at Southern Bell Telephone Company and Ann was an elementary school teacher and librarian for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. Their daughter, Leigh Ann, came along in 1961 and their son, John, in 1967. The family enjoyed camping as the kids were growing up and took countless camping trips with scores of friends over the years. That love of camping took Bob and Ann to 49 states and various provinces in Canada and Mexico after they retired in the late 1980s up through their last adventure in 2021.

For those fifty-plus years of camping, if Bob and Ann were camping on a Sunday, no matter where they were, they found their way to a church service. They might opt for the service in the campground or they might drive to the nearest church they could find. But they showed up to worship when traveling and they faithfully supported their home congregation in Winston-Salem even when on the road. Faith was the center of Bob's life, the grounding point for everything he did and the lens through which he worked to discern how to love his God, his wife, his children, his neighbors, and any stranger he encountered. He learned the lessons of faith early and he let those lessons settle deep in his heart and spirit. Terrified of speaking in public and convinced he couldn't sing his way out of a paper bag, Bob was rarely up in front of the church. Nonetheless, he became the backbone of all the congregations he attended. He wanted everyone to know his Jesus.

Bob is survived by Ann, his loving wife of over 70 years; his daughter, Leigh Ann and her husband Keith; and his son, John and his husband, Rande. He is preceded in death by his parents, Minter Leonard and Pearl; his brother, Clyde, and his brother, M.L., Jr. His grandchildren and their spouses, Katie (Jamie), Jeremy (Kimberly), Morgan (Courtney), Lauren, Kash, Brogan, and Sam will miss their Papa. And they will tell Mason, Harrison, Ellyson, Brooks and Raegan, their own children and Bob's great-grandchildren, all the gifts that this gentle, faithful, loving, funny man gave them. The family wants to thank the Baptist congregations Bob and Ann have attended over the years New Hope, Becks, Calvary, and Robinhood Road for surrounding us with your love. We thank all the staff at Bermuda Village Retirement Community for loving and caring for Bob and Ann and for enduring Bob's good-natured ribbing and corny jokes.

On Wednesday, April 9, 2025, the family will greet visitors at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home, 3315 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC from 6 to 8 p.m. The funeral will be on Thursday, April 10 at 2 p.m. at Robinhood Road Baptist Church, 5422 Robinhood Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27106, with interment following at Forsyth Memorial Park.