Blackburn

Elizabeth “Gail” Blackburn, 89, of Slippery Rock, was called home by the good Lord on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.

Raised on a farm during the Great Depression, Gail was instilled with values of honesty, respect and appreciation for the rewards earned through hard work. Gail was known to say that every child should grow up on a farm. The experience fostered her love of all creatures from the cows, chickens, pigs, dogs and cats on the farm to the cats, dogs, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs and iguana that found their way into the house through her children.

Gail was also a gardener of fruits, vegetables, shrubs, trees and flowers. She inherited her love of gardening from her mother and learned the task of canning the fruits of her labor from her mother as well. She truly was a homesteader before homesteading was vogue.

Gail was an artist. She enjoyed oil painting. She painted throughout her teens and her early 20s, before setting that passion aside to raise a family. She resumed oil painting again in the 2000s when the muse struck her after taking trips to Ireland and Scotland. Experimenting with a different medium, to wit, icing, and cake as her canvas, Gail began decorating birthday cakes for her children.

Word got out, and soon she was making birthday cakes and special occasion cakes at the request of others. She ventured into wedding cakes and prided herself on trying larger and more elaborate designs. Perhaps the most loved of her creations was the castle cake she made for her niece’s medieval-themed wedding. In later years, Gail worked as a cake decorator at the Giant Eagle locations in Butler and Slippery Rock, and at the County Market in Grove City. She placed third in a national cake decorating contest in 1997.

Gail’s artistic flair also expressed itself in music. During her early years, she studied classical piano. The house was often filled with the sounds of Für Elise or Malaguena, two of Gail’s favorites. Self-taught on the violin, Gail sat with her high school orchestra. In later years, she enjoyed the sounds of her electronic keyboard.

Gail met Skeeter, the love of her life, on a blind date. They married and settled in Slippery Rock where they raised three children. Skeeter introduced Gail to amateur ham radio and soon both had earned their Extra Class licenses. Gail was active on the traffic net as a net manager in central Western Pennsylvania, relaying messages by Morse code. She was also a member of the Laurel Lasses which was responsible for the installation of the first amateur radio repeater in Butler County in the 1970s. Her adventures with Skeeter also included sky diving to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

She is survived by, and will be dearly missed by Hugh “Skeeter” Blackburn, her beloved husband of 65 years; as well as her son, Hugh (Dawn) Blackburn; daughters, Diane Blackburn and Crystal (Dave) Majeski; grandsons, Hugh Blackburn, David Majeski and Greg Majeski; several nieces and nephews; and several fur baby grandchildren.

Gail was preceded in death by her parents and each of her siblings.

BLACKBURN — The family of Elizabeth Gail Blackburn, who died Tuesday, May 28, 2024, will receive visitors from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at THOMPSON-MILLER FUNERAL HOME, 124 E. North St., Butler. A funeral service will begin immediately thereafter at noon with Pastor Bob Edmundson officiating. A private burial will be held at Greenlawn Burial Estates.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Butler County Humane Society at 1015 Evans City Road, Renfrew, PA 16053 or butlercountyhs.org.

All who knew Gail are encouraged to share memories and upload photos to her unique remembrance page at www.thompson-miller.com.

Please sign the guest book at www.butlereagle.com.