Lionel Q. Blakeney

Lionel Quincy Blakeney passed away on 01/10/2015 at the age of 95. Lionel Q Blakeney (aka LQ, Blake) was born in Taylorsville, MS on 10/12/19 to Annie and Ben Blakeney. He had three brothers, Edell, DW and Frank. The family moved to Crystal Springs where Ben Blakeney was the manager of a packing shed. Lionel played guard for the football team at Crystal Springs Consolidate School, earning the nickname of "Tuffy". He delivered ice during his high school years with a mule and wagon and met Dorothy Kent during that time delivering ice to her parent's home. In spite of the fact her father was the first person in Crystal Springs to buy an electric refrigerator their romance continued. He joined the Army with the onset of WWII in November of 1941 but changed to the Army-Air Corp where he became an MP rising to the rank of sergeant. Dorothy and Lionel married while he was in Biloxi, MS in 1942 and were married for 72 years. They had two children during this time, a daughter, Dianne Blakeney Horton and a son, Norman Kenneth Blakeney. Lionel was stationed in St. Petersburg, FL and was billeted at the Vinoy for four years. Just before the end of the war, his unit was moved to Miami Beach where he drove a jeep driving stars like Bob Hope around to different venues. When the war ended the Chief of Police from St. Petersburg came down and met the MP unit that had been stationed here and offered them jobs with the police department that was expanding as the town had grown considerably during the war. He became one of a group that became known as the "Original 13" and was assigned badge #4. Lionel was the last surviving member of that group. Lionel moved his family to St. Petersburg from Mississippi upon joining the St. Petersburg Police Department in 1946. He walked a beat in downtown St. Petersburg where they were required to shake the door handle of each business's front and back door. He moved on to become a motorcycle patrolman which he loved and it was reported that he was herding cattle on 4th Street. He would tell tales of only having two police cars when he joined the force, one for the north section and one for the south section of the city with only a rope and a shovel in the trunk. In 1947 while responding to an accident on his motorcycle he was struck by a car and suffered multiple injuries including a severely broken leg and was in Mound Park Hospital for a year. Unable to walk without assistance, he finally returned to work as a radio dispatcher and was awarded the Ned March Award in 1954, the second year it was in existence. He worked as radio dispatcher for several years, rising to the rank of sergeant. He lobbied hard and finally left the radio room going on to become a detective. In 1966 he retired from the police department and went to work for the Public Defender's office as an investigator. He worked in the Public Defender's office, becoming the Chief Investigator retiring in 1987. He often remarked that he put people in jail for 20 years and then kept them out of jail for 20 years. He very much enjoyed his time in the public defender's office working with Rosemary Yiengst, Robert Jagger and John Duncan who became lifelong friends. Upon retiring in 1987 he and Dorothy bought a house and property in Cedar Mountain, NC, got a big yellow Labrador named T-Bone and spent 6 months out of the year there riding their ATV's, mowing with his big John Deer tractor and enjoying his satellite TV. He was a member of the Nitram Masonic Lodge #188, Scottish Rite Valley, Tampa, Egypt Temple Shrine of Tampa, and the Over The Hill Club of St. Petersburg, FL, St. Pete Police Retired Association. Lionel in many ways lived the American dream. He came from a poor family in rural Mississippi to accomplish and live a long life full of adventure and drama, but never forgot where he came from, always considering Crystal Springs his home. Lionel is survived by his wife Dorothy Kent Blakeney; his daughter, Dianne Blakeney Horton and son, Norman Kenneth (Chris) Blakeney; granddaughters Holly (Michael) McKelvey, Land of Lakes, FL, Kimberly (Bret) Covher, Franklin, NC, Kimberly Ryder, Dana (Monte) Worrell and Dawn Weiher, Pinellas Park, Florida, ten great- grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. Graveside Services will be Saturday January 17th at 10:30AM at Memorial Park Cemetery, St. Petersburg. The family requests in lieu of flowers, please made donations to Suncoast Hospice Association who were such a great help.