Beverly was born in Allen County, Indiana, to Raymond Winford Blessing and Ona Irene (Culver) Blessing. The family moved from Allen to Wells County in 1933 after purchasing a 160 acre farm just south of Uniondale. Bev graduated from Rockcreek High School in 1946, where he was a member of the band and the 1946 County Tournament winning basketball team. After high school he farmed with his grandfather, father, and brother.
Bev met Jean Gorrell during a youth group event at the Fort Wayne First United Methodist
Church in the fall of 1948. They married on March 25, 1951 and lived on the farm in Wells
county, where Jean started teaching English and Home Economics for the Bluffton Harrison School District. They had a daughter in 1953 and a son in 1957.
In addition to his primary occupation of farming, he worked as an IBEW union electrician for
Shambaugh and Sons Electric for over 30 years. He took a four year sabbatical from electrical
work in the late 60’s and early 70’s to serve as Field Service Manager for Mix Mill, Inc. ,
traveling to customers’ and production facilities across the US, Canada, and Europe.
Bev was very conservation minded, actively incorporating new methods and techniques in his
farming and forestry. These included “no-till” planting, constructing waterways and riparian
strips, expanding forest acreage, and practicing management guidelines for classified
sustainable woodlands. Bev planted new trees every year amounting to more than 14,000 over his lifetime. In 2022 he was nominated for the Charles Deam Award.
Bev was a man of many talents. In 1979 he purchased property on Lake Huron in the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan and, with the help of his son Eric, built a vacation home of his own design, which included hand hewn beams from one of his razed barns. Bev enjoyed
fishing, woodworking, and fixing and building things around the farm. He loved singing,
attending opera, playing the piano, and was a voracious reader of non-fiction. In his late 80’s he decided to learn to play the cello and mentored young musicians pursuing classical training. He took pride in his attire which was always stylish and appropriate. He was a man of deep faith and uncompromising integrity and held himself to the highest standards of behavior.
Bev was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Jeanette Larmore, his brother Douglas
Blessing, and his wife H. Jean Blessing (Jan 12, 2020). He is survived by his daughter
Rebecca (Blessing) White of Peoria, IL, his son Eric Blessing and daughter-in-law Pamela
Blessing of Markle, IN and three grandchildren;, Jeremiah White of Peoria, IL, Caroline Blessing
and Sara Blessing, both of New York, NY.
Visitation will be at Thoma/Rich Funeral Home on Friday, July 11 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. The funeral will take place on Saturday, July 12th at 10:30 at the First Presbyterian Church in Bluffton.
Memorials can be made to the First Presbyterian Church in Bluffton, IN or the Fort Wayne
Philharmonic Youth Orchestras.
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