In Memory

Edward G. (Gary) Holland (Blankenship)

Many of you knew our classmate as Gary Holland while we were in school together.  When he was in college, Gary changed his name back to his birth name of Blankenship.

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Edward Gary Blankenship, A.I.A., died in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 15, 2020 at age 77. The best days of Gary’s childhood were spent in Nashville, to which he retired in 2016 after a long and distinguished career as one of the world’s leading airport architects.

Most of his life Gary worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, fifty weeks a year. He earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in architecture from Columbia University, which provided a fellowship for Gary’s studies at the American Academy in Rome. Gary later graduated from England’s University of Cambridge, where his dissertation formed the basis of his book “THE AIRPORT”. Gary planned airport facilities around the world, first for American Air Lines, then Trans World Airlines, and then with Landrum & Brown, where he became a member emeritus of the Board of Directors. Gary completed his illustrious career by moving to California and becoming the chief architect for the half-billion-dollar redevelopment of John Wayne Airport serving Los Angeles and Orange County.

Gary was a member of The Meadow Club in Southampton, New York, and for more than 50 years, a member of the beautiful Oxford & Cambridge Club in London. Gary’s spiritual home was the ancient Church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Hildersham, near Cambridge. Gary’s most treasured membership was Cambridge University’s stately Downing College, which recognized Gary’s generous gifts to the College by naming him a Wilkins Fellow in 2016. Downing wrote of Gary that he was “kind, thoughtful and extremely gentle”, but “his loyalty to Downing was fierce”. Gary wrote of Downing that “Downing College continues to remain among my life’s greatest blessings and hardly a day goes by that I am not reminded of its timeless and inspirational architecture and breath-taking beauty.”

Gary was the son of the late Martha Baldridge Blankenship Holland and the late E. G. Blankenship, a decorated fighter-pilot in World War Two who perished in a U.S. Navy plane crash when Gary was three years old. Gary was especially fond of his late Grandmother, Irene Brasfield Baldridge, and his late Aunt, Mary Sue Baldridge McDonald. Very dear to Gary were his dachshunds, especially the late Fritz and the late Olivia.

Gary is survived by his very good friends, Kathryn and Keith W. Lerch of Indianapolis; Gary’s godson, Spencer Lawrence Lerch of Indianapolis; and Gary’s goddaughter, Hillary Hayden Lerch Gibson of Lake Oswego, Oregon. Gary is also survived by his very good friend, Judy Petty of Pittsburgh, and by his former wife, Lynda Meredith Blankenship, originally of Nashville but long a resident of New York. Gary’s thoughtfulness and generosity touched many people through the years. Thank you to his caregivers, Mr. and Mrs. Javier Bolanos, who assisted Gary in many ways.

Gary will be buried in Dresden, Tennessee, alongside his grandmother and aunt.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nashville-tn/edward-blankenship-9871210