Jerry Blankenship

The services celebrating and honoring the life of Dr. Jerry Ben Blankenship, 87, of Enid will be held 2:00 P.M. Friday, May 30, 2025, at First United Methodist Church with Reverend Ronnie Hopkins and Reverend Don Johnson officiating. There will be a visitation on Thursday, May 29 from 6-8 p.m. in the Brown-Cummings, A Life Celebration Home. The burial will take place in the Memorial Park Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home.

Dr. Jerry Blankenship, longtime resident of Enid, Oklahoma, was born September 1, 1937, to William O. and Ben Inez Blankenship in Frederick, Oklahoma and passed from this life May 25, 2025, in Enid, Oklahoma.

He was raised and educated in Frederick, Oklahoma. Jerry cultivated a lifelong sense of purpose, compassion, and leadership that would shape his enduring legacy as a physician, civic leader, and friend.

A 1955 graduate of Frederick High School, Jerry attended the University of Oklahoma on a golf scholarship. He soon turned his focus to medicine. In 1958 he married Carolynne Morey in Frederick, Oklahoma. He graduated with honors from the OU College of Medicine in 1962. He was recognized for exemplifying the ideal doctor-patient relationship—an honor that foreshadowed his deeply caring approach to medicine.

In 1967, Jerry and Carolynne moved to Enid with their two young sons, Jon and Ben, where he began his urology practice. Their third son, Matt, was born in 1975. Jerry served the Enid medical community with dedication, holding roles as Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff at both Integris Bass Baptist Hospital and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. He also served as president of the Oklahoma Urological Association and received the Wyeth Ayerst Laboratories Physician Award for Community Service in 1992—one of the field’s highest honors.

Throughout his career, Jerry was admired not only for his clinical excellence but for his unwavering attention and kindness. As one patient recalled, “He always made his patients feel like he had ample time to spend with them.” His bedside manner left lasting impressions on countless families.

Beyond medicine, Jerry was very civic-minded. He served as chairman of the Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce, as a trustee of Phillips University, and on the boards of United Way of Enid & Northwest Oklahoma, Enid Public School Foundation, Enid Higher Education Council, and the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center. He was an elder at Central Christian Church and a proud member of the Enid Rotary Club. Jerry was the Enid Chamber Citizen of the Year in 2002, Pillar of the Plains recipient in 2009, and an Enid Walk of Fame inductee in 2023. Anyone who ever knew Jerry could tell of his passion for OU football, his lifelong pursuit of the perfect golf swing, his devotion to his wife, Carolynne, his pride in his sons, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and his fundamental honesty and kindness.

Dr. Blankenship is survived by son Jon and his wife Kim of Enid, son Ben and his wife Carol of Nashville, and son Matt and his wife Jennifer of Tulsa, nine grandchildren (Jon Ryan, Will, Madison, Sam, Presley, Thomas, Anne, James, and Henry) and nine great grandchildren, and many extended family members.

He was preceded in death by his wife Carolynne Blankenship and his parents W.O. and Ben Inez Blankenship, and brothers Robroy and Bill Mac Blankenship.

Memorial contributions can be made to Central Christian Church or the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Jerry’s name with Brown-Cummings serving as custodian of the funds.

Condolences and special memories may be shared with the family online at WWW.BrownCummings.com.