Virginia Lee Blackwell

Virgina Lee Blackwell, 81, of Panhandle, passed away peacefully from this life and into the arms of Jesus on Thursday, December 14, 2023.  Funeral Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, December 16, 2023, at the Panhandle Church of Christ with Leonard Harper officiating.  Burial will follow in Panhandle Cemetery under the direction of Minton Chatwell Funeral Directors of, Borger.  The family will receive friends from 6-7 pm on Friday, December 15, 2023, at the funeral home.

Virginia, affectionately called “Sissy” by her family, was born on October 10, 1942, in Clinton, Oklahoma to Neal and Agnes Fulks.  She moved from Clinton to Friona, Texas with her family at the age of nine.  She graduated from Friona High School in 1960.  She also attended South Plains College in Levelland.  She was secretary to certified public accountants Gowens, Glower, Graham, and Brown in Friona and Shollenbarger and Allen in Hereford, Texas. 

She married Edward Blackwell on July 9, 1971.  They lived in Hereford until 1979 when they moved to Panhandle, Texas.  She was employed in Panhandle as secretary to Stamps Spraying Service.  She then began working for Panhandle ISD, initially in the cafeteria and then as the Panhandle Elementary School Secretary where she worked for 18 years.  She loved this work and was especially suited to it as she loved children and was “an exceptional problem solver.”  She was a member of Panhandle Church of Christ. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, Neal and Agnes Fulks, infant sister Nancy Sue Fulks, sister Juanita Catherine “Tootie” Robbins, and brother Bobby “Sonny” Fulks. 

Survivors include her husband, Ed of the home, son Jon and his wife Heather of Amarillo, sister Donna Lee of Abernathy, grandsons, Ryan and Tate Blackwell, who called her Nana (they were her pride and joy), sister-in-law June Ice of Waco, and brother-in-law Virgil Blackwell and wife Dixie of Iowa Park, and numerous nieces and nephews. 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Virgina’s name to High Plains Children’s Home 11242 Chapman Drive, Amarillo, Texas 79118.