Malava Ann Besedich Blanton
Burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Ozona, Texas.
A coal miner's daughter, Malava Ann Besedich Blanton was born Jan. 1, 1924, in Mononga, West Virginia to Joseph and Katie Besedich. One of 10 children, she grew up in Farmington, West Virginia, in the Consolidation Coal Company #9 mining camp where her father worked as a coal miner. After graduating from Farmington High School, she moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and with two of her sisters, she worked at Westinghouse. It was in Baltimore that she met a Texas boy from Merkel. She married O.R. Blanton on April 19, 1946, in Baltimore, Maryland. He preceded her in death on Nov. 28, 1981.
Upon her marriage, she and her husband moved to Artesia New Mexico, where her in-laws had just relocated from Texas. She and her husband lived there until they moved to Ozona, Tesxas, in 1958. She was a housewife and raised her two children there. She was a member of Ozona United Methodist Church and upon moving to San Angelo in 1993, she attended Sierra Vista United Methodist Church with her family until her health prevented her from attending. Her life revolved around her two children, four granddaughters and four great-grandchildren. She will be missed by all those who dearly loved her. She was the best mom and "Meme" we could have ever wished for.
She was preceded in death by her husband, O.R. Blanton; her parents; a great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Grace Noble; brothers Drago and Daniel Besedich; sisters Olga Myers, Kay Stache, Mary Chickrell, Josephine Flannery and Virginia Davis.
She is survived by her son, Doug Blanton of San Angelo; her daughter, Tanya Blanton of San Angelo; four granddaughters, Dree Noble and husband Reagon of San Angelo, Brittnae Davidson of Austin, Lesli Uherik and husband Luke of San Angelo and Tara Robertson and husband Travis of Austin; four great-grandchildren, Tripp, Marin and Reed Noble and Charlotte Uherik, all of San Angelo; two sisters, Mildred Hughes of Dravosburg, Pennsylvania, and Helen Lockwood of Fairmont, West Virginia; and numerous nieces and nephews.
