Charles H. Blazey of Brookings, died at the age of 90 on July 12, 2016, at the Neighborhoods at Brookview in Brookings , SD. Funeral services will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, July 16, at the First United Methodist Church of Brookings, SD. Interment will be at Black Hills National Cemetery, Sturgis, SD. Visitation is from 5-7 PM Friday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings with a Masonic Funeral Service following. Memorials may be directed to the Charles and Kathryn Blazey Scholarship at the South Dakota State University Foundation.

Charles Henry Blazey was born April 2, 1926, in Canandaigua, NY, to Floyd and Edna (Daum) Blazey, the second oldest of three sons and three daughters. He was raised on the Blazey Farm and educated at Brownsville District School #6, graduating from Macedon High School, Macedon, NY in 1943. He received B.S. (1950) and M.S. (1961) degrees from SUNY-Brockport and a Doctorate from the University of Oregon in 1971. He served in the U.S. Navy. He married Kathryn Stevely of Fairport, NY on April 5, 1947.

Before coming to South Dakota State University in 1965, he was a teacher, city recreation director and held administrative positions in industry. He was Department Head of Health Science at SDSU from 1965 to 1987 when he retired as Professor Emeritus. He was a member of AARP, Masons, Eastern Star, Shrine, Kiwanis and American Legion. His other activities were golf, travel, playing cards, reading, genealogy. He was also an inventor and musician.

He was predeceased by his wife, Kay, on November 18, 2007 and by his parents; brothers Roger and Bruce and sisters Eileen MacPherson and Marjorie Woods; grandparents Charles and Jenny (Ellsworth) Blazey and Henry and Bertha (Hanggi) Daum. Survivors include sons Michael (Jennifer) of La Habra, CA, Matthew (Bonnie) of Florence, KY, Gerald (Jean) of Elburn, IL, and daughter Suzanne of Eau Claire, WI; grandchildren Benjamin, Samuel, Tyler, Nicole, Amanda and Lauren Blazey and Thor and Gray Gunderson; sister Barbara Flath of Hagerstown, MD and sisters-in-law Jean Blazey of Farmington, NY and Patricia Dawidiwicz of Hanover, MD.