PROFILE: PAUL RAY BLANKENSHIP

Paul Ray Blankenship Photo by C.L. Garvin THE REGISTER-HERALD Age: 65 Education: Oceana High School, 1958 Concord College, 1962 Marshall University, master's degree in speech, 1967 West Virginia University, master's degree in communication studies, 1987 Various other classes and training Profession: Retired, high school teacher and college professor Hobbies: Writing for my own personal use and, for a few years, for public consumption Current memberships: Oceana High School Alumni Association, Sons of the American Revolution Most proud of: I have had the opportunity to be born in Wyoming County, be educated in Wyoming County, teach in Wyoming County and live a reasonably successful life in Wyoming County. Philosophy of life: Use what you have to the best of your ability. Take advantage of situations you know are opportunities and the good Lord will take of the rest.

OCEANA - He has a gentle, infectious humor that reflects his rural roots. He carries the history of Oceana and surrounding areas in his mind and has worked tirelessly in the last few years to record it for generations of residents.

Oceana born and bred, Paul Ray Blankenship is very proud of his hometown, his high school alma mater, and the people, including his students, he's come to know in his lifetime in the small, rural area.

A direct descendant of the county's first known settler, John Cooke, Blankenship taught at Oceana High for 25 years. He also served as an adjunct professor at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College for several years.

"One of the things I want to be remembered for is, when I was connected to the schools or responsible for a student's education, the students thought that I cared how they were doing or cared about what their problems were. I want to be remembered for caring, because I did."

Blankenship's biggest influences were his parents, John and Blanche Blankenship. It is his mother whom he credits with making certain he completed his college education.

"When I went off to college, I wasn't real keen on being away from home. I came home every weekend ... and every weekend I came up with an excuse not to go back," he recalled with a laugh. His mother, however, would make the phone calls to ensure he had a way back to school. "And before I knew it, every Sunday, I was on my way back to Athens.

"In 1958, we didn't have a lot of guidance programs. So, when you graduated high school, you either went into the service, tried to get a job around the mines, or you went to college. "We went to college without any idea of what was going to be the ultimate outcome. We didn't have any idea of what we wanted to do.

"At the time, Concord College was considered to be one of the best teacher colleges in the state, if not the eastern United States. If you went to Concord and got those credentials, you were reasonably assured of getting a good job."

Blankenship had teachers who had their own ideas about his talents and what his pursuits should be.

His high school journalism teacher, Katherine Crews, thought he should go into journalism. The school librarian, Maxine Barrett, thought his talents should be focused in art.

"The school didn't offer a journalism major, it had to be English. "I did have a little bit of art talent and anytime anybody wanted a poster or something done, they asked me," he recalled.

One of his first classes at Concord, however, was art appreciation. "I'm sure it was the demise of a lot of art students," he laughed. "I knew, if this was what I was going to have to take, I couldn't cut it. It was one of the hardest classes I had in four years at Concord. "So, I wandered from one department to another."

As a result, he ended up with degrees in social studies, speech, language arts and political science. However, he never regretted his career choice.

"I enjoyed the interaction and working with students. I had no interest in an administrative job. I always wanted to work with the students and that went above and beyond what you do in the classroom. I gave many, many, many hours of my own time. I sponsored dances, plays, graduation, virtually anything and everything the kids were interested in.

"I think the most frustrating thing (about teaching) was the nonsensical rules and regulations we were required to deal with. By the time I left in 1989, we spent more time doing paperwork than we did teaching."

His work on three mammoth area history books began with the centennial celebration of 1976. He'd already written several church histories for anniversaries and other celebrations. With the centennial information in hand, he began to collect and borrow additional data in earnest. "I begged and pleaded for people to loan me this and that and the first book just kind of pulled itself together. "I almost felt like if I didn't do something with it, a lot of history would just not be written down anymore."

Much of his collection was included in the first volume, "From Cabins to Coal Mines: A Bicentennial History of Oceana, West Virginia, and Surrounding Areas, 1799-1999." The huge number of photos and other items, along with historical accounts, however, could not have been published in the 473-page first volume. Thus, a companion volume of 680 pages was completed.

These two came on the heels of a previous 300-page book by Blankenship, "The History and Genealogy of the Cooke Family of Wyoming County, West Virginia," which provided information about the county's first settler, John Cooke, and his family.

"The first one was really a kind of therapy for me," Blankenship explained. "At the time, my mother was alive and I was her primary care giver. I had someone who came in during the day, but I stayed with her at night. "I spent my spare time on the book. I guess it was my way of getting away from those problems. Once I got started, and people saw that I was serious about preserving this stuff, they began sending me things. "I would go to the post office and my arms would be loaded with envelopes from all over the country - things that had long ago left Wyoming County - from Texas, California, Ohio, all over."

The recent flooding, Blankenship believes, has also played a part in people being more willing to share their historic photos and other memorabilia. He thinks people now understood that if these items are washed away in the floods or otherwise lost, then it is gone forever. Unfortunately, all three books have sold out and are no longer available.

"I'm still working on, and very much want to record, the history of Oceana High School. In another generation, people will have forgotten there was an Oceana High School. There's just too much tradition, too much history for us not to commemorate an institution that was around for 100 years.

"And Oceana High School produced a lot of outstanding people in all fields. I don't think that should be forgotten," he emphasized. "I'm a collector and an organizer of information," Blankenship said. "I'm glad I have the ability to take things that are seemingly unrelated and pull them together in a book."

Over the years, Blankenship has had opportunities to work in other locations. "I've never really wanted to go anyplace else," he emphasized. "Wyoming County is my comfort zone. All my experiences are connected with the school and that part of the county. "Through all the lives I've touched down through the years, I'd like to think that I've made a difference."