Blaine was born on April 19, 1928, in Oakland, Iowa the son of Frank Kearney and Mona (Bates) Kearney, and passed away June 28, 2022, at the Audubon Memorial Hospital in Audubon, Iowa.
He grew up in Oakland, Iowa, and graduated from Oakland High School in 1946. He attended the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, graduating in 1951 with a BSPh degree.
On Feb. 4, 1951, he married Mary Lou Rattenborg at the Oakland Christian Church in Oakland, Iowa. Blaine and Mary owned and operated Kearney Pharmacy for 39 years in Audubon, Iowa. They purchased it in 1955 and operated it until it was sold in 1995. It is now a Present Company in Audubon.
He was a member of the United Church of God in Ankeny, Iowa.
Blaine and Mary loved to travel and after their retirement took a dream trip to Alaska in their small motor home for 5 weeks. They also spent winters in Donna, TX for many years.
Blaine’s other passion and hobby for many years were flying radio-controlled airplanes. He would build his planes and fly them on weekends with his many flying buddies or in the many flying clubs he belonged to. He did aerial stunts with them for the crowds that would gather. The stunts were real crowd-pleasers. He also gave flying lessons to anyone wanting to learn to fly or would teach them how to do the aerial acrobatics he was known for. He received an award from the Academy of Model Aeronautics in 2016 for his long service to the hobby.
Blaine was preceded in death by his wife Mary of 62 years and a son John in 1985, his parents, 5 brothers, one sister, and a sister-in-law Lois Rattenborg.
Blaine is survived by his 5 children, Laura (Jim) Mortensen of Radcliff, KY, Paul (Ellen) of Creston, IA, Mary Ellen (Kevin) Byers of Anita, IA, Alan (Sheila) Kearney of Guthrie Center, IA, David Kearney of Lucama, NC, and, Brother-in-law Keith Rattenborg of Oakland, IA; As well as 9 Grandkids, 26 Great Grandkids, and 5 Great Great Grandkids.
A private family graveside service will be held at a later date at the Oaklawn Cemetery in Oakland, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to the family and mailed to the Schmidt Family Funeral Home P.O. Box 523, Atlantic, IA 50022. The staff of Schmidt Family Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
