Aileene Juanita Blincoe, age 94, a resident of rural Ft. Scott, Kansas, passed away Friday, August 24, 2018, at her home.

She was born October 10, 1923, in Greenwood, Wise County, Texas, the daughter of J. Paul Howard and Harriet Mae Armstrong.

Aileene lived in several towns in Texas due to her father’s job with the railroad. She graduated from the Childress High School in 1940. After early jobs at the Fort Worth Stockyard, Aileene boarded a train bound for Washington, DC and secured a job at the newly constructed Pentagon.

Later during World War II, she began working for the Port Authority in the Texas-Louisiana region. While attending a servicemen dance, she met George W. Blincoe. Aileene and George were married December 8, 1945, in Houston, Texas. They made their home in Waverly, Missouri and then back to Washington, DC in the 1950’s.

They moved to Michigan in 1957 when George was transferred to the Office of Civil Defense in Battle Creek. Aileene went to college after her two children were in high school. She received her Associate’s degree from KCC and BA in English from Western Michigan University in 1966. After teaching English for one year at Battle Creek Central, Aileene returned to Western Michigan to earn her MA in counseling. Aileene served as guidance counselor for the Gull Lake school system until her retirement.

She and husband, George maintained their dream home at Gull Lake and the Blincoe family farm in east-central Kansas. Aileene continued to manage the farm after her husband’s passing in 2008.

Survivors include her children, Paula Louise Blincoe Collins, of Denton, Texas and George W. Blincoe, Jr. of Dillon, Colorado; four grandchildren, Cyd Curtis Bates, of Washington, DC, Billie Jean Collins Pineda, of Olympia, Washington, Justin Paul Blincoe, of Denver, Colorado and Sarah E. Blincoe, of Santa Cruz, California and five great-grandchildren, Virginia, Dezi, Alanna, Lola and Rosa. Also surviving is a brother, Jimmy Howard, of Denver, Colorado.

In addition to her husband, George, she was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Paula Howard Stevens.

Graveside services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday, August 29th at the Hepler Cemetery in Hepler, Kansas.

Memorials are suggested to Paws & Claws Animal Shelter and may be left in the care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.