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Moment of Silence: Bill Blackmore02-28-07 | News

Moment of Silence: Bill Blackmore

Bill Blackmore operated an Iowa nursery for more than 50 years.

Moment of Silence: Bill BlackmoreWilliam W. Blackmore, a former president of the Iowa Nursery and Landscape Association, died on Feb. 3. He was 87.

Bill Blackmore was born Dec. 8, 1919, the only child of Guy and Elsie (Winkler) Blackmore.

He graduated from Mason City High School and was in the class of 1942 at Iowa State College in Forestry.

Bill served in the US Army during WWII as a First Lieutenant with a transportation unit in Europe. Upon returning from the war he started Blackmore Nursery and was actively involved in the business for 60 years.

When asked why he became a nurseryman Bill would reply, “If you grow up in Iowa you join the Boy Scouts. If you are a Boy Scout you become a forester. If you want a forest in Iowa you have to grow it yourself, and then you become a nurseryman.”