Beverly Blankenship (Biles), born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma on October 14, 1945, passed on September 28, 2026, at Integris Hospice House in Oklahoma City, surrounded by caring hospice nurses and doctors and her family.
Beverly was the youngest of four daughters of Bertha Robinson and Orice Biles. She grew up in Southern California, and the summer before her senior year in high school, her family moved to Stratford, Oklahoma, where she met her future husband Larry Blankenship. They married in November 1967, the same year he enlisted in the United States Air Force.
Beverly gave birth to their daughter, Lisa, on Canon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico, in 1970, and they moved shortly after to Dallas. Their son, Kreig, was born in Arlington, Texas, in 1973. Beverly devoted herself to raising her two children and went on to work part-time in business administration and as an antique enthusiast and dealer before she and Larry retired in 2002 and they went back to their roots in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. Beverly looked forward each week to her volunteer work at the Pauls Valley General Hospital, which she did for several years, forming a close circle of friends. In 2023 she and Larry moved to the Oklahoma City area to be closer to medical services.
Beverly was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend, known for her feistiness, mischievous smile and her infectious laugh. She loved almost any public library, read voraciously and watched and supported public television.
She loved doing yardwork, tending her flowerbeds, and, even more than most of us, enjoyed the pleasures of her riding lawnmower. She could recite almost any detail about any Hollywood star from the 1920s through the 1960s; she was the best spades player at any table; she made famously good pumpkin bread and peach cobblers, and if you were lucky, she made one for you. We will miss her wit, her dry sense of humor, her kindness, her sarcasm and her beautiful smile.
She was preceded in death by her mother and father, Bertha and Orice Biles; her stepfather, Marvin Biles; and her three sisters: Juanita Fitzgerald (Bill), Kathleen Ealey (Eudell) and Geneva Ivy (Dick).
She is survived by her husband, Larry, of Moore, Oklahoma; son, Kreig, of Flagstaff, Arizona; daughter, Lisa, of Bloomfield, New Jersey; special daughter, Caroline Dadas, of Montclair, New Jersey; granddaughter, Colibri Del Valle, of Seattle, Washington; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Her Celebration of Life service will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Wooster Funeral Home, 1601 S. Chickasaw Street in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. She chose to be cremated and will be laid to rest at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Pauls Valley at a later date.
