Lurton Wyatt Blassingame

ATTENTION
Due to recent health concerns surrounding COVID-19, in order to abide by the recommended health guidelines put in place by Tony Evers and the CDC, the visitation and funeral for Lurton W. Blassingame beginning at 1:00PM, Saturday, March 14, 2020 at First Congregation Church has been postponed until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience; the safety of our community is of the utmost importance to First Congregational Church and Konrad-Behlman Funeral Home.


Lurton W. Blassingame, died March 9, 2020. He was 84 years old. He was born and educated through Horace Mann Prep School in New York City and became an Eagle Scout there. He attended Harvard on a NROTC scholarship, graduating Cum Laude. He served as a naval officer on a destroyer in the South Pacific for three years. He attended New York University and earned a Ph. D. in American Studies. During those years he met and married Carolyn Mockridge.

In 1967, he and Carolyn came to Oshkosh; Lurton came to teach History and be the first Assistant to the Dean of the College of Letters and Science. Before he retired in 1994, he was Associate Professor, Associate Dean of the College and then Coordinator of the Urban and Regional Studies Program. During those years he published in various journals and reference works.

From his earliest years in Oshkosh Lurton was constantly active in community affairs. He served on the Oshkosh Plan Commission for 23 years, 15 as its Chair during which a hotel, currently the Best Western Premier Hotel, was planned and completed. He served on the Oshkosh River Beautification Committee, the Fox River Development Committee which developed what is now the Oshkosh River Walk, the Oshkosh Environmental Advisory Committee, the Oshkosh Advisory Parks Committee, and was a Board member and secretary of the Oshkosh Symphony. He was a member of Leadership Oshkosh, Winnebagoland Focus, served on several Committees of the East Central Regional Planning Commission, on the Boards of the Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust and SOAR (Special Opportunities of Artists in Residence), and as a member for two years on a Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority grant reviewing committee. He was president of the Evergreen Residents Council (2015- 2017), for 14 years was a Board member of the Oshkosh Public Library and the Winnefox Library System Board (serving once as president), and in 2018 was a member of the Oshkosh Plan Update Committee.

Lurton was awarded the City of Oshkosh's "Community Partner Award" in 2013, and in 2015 the Oshkosh Committee on Aging's "Lifetime Volunteer Award", and, from the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce's, "Lynne Webster Leadership Award".
At the time of his death, Lurton was a member of the Oshkosh Sustainability Advisory Board, a member of the Oshkosh Area United Way Community Investment Committee, the Oshkosh Committee on Aging, and the Downtown Oshkosh Rotary.

Lurton was an active member of the First Congregational Church. He served on its Board of Trustees, its Reorganization Committee, Board of Benevolence, and Prayer Circle. At the time of his death he was a member of its Personnel and Finance Ministry Groups.

Lurton always cared about the environment and was an enthusiastic fisherman, bow and grouse hunter. For several years he was an active member of Trout Unlimited, and the Ruffed Grouse Society. He was a voracious reader and loved learning in any form. He and Carolyn enjoyed bicycling, traveling, cross country and downhill skiing, especially Christmas vacations, with their sons in different locations.

Lurton loved his family, cherished his friends and served his community. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Carolyn; two sons, Wyatt (Tiffany) and Curtis (Sara); and his five grandsons, Ross, Nolan, Emmet, Canyon, and Ace.