Commission honors father for community service

Samuel Blakemore is a full-time City Court officer, a husband and a father of seven, but he still organizes a school chess club, is president of the PTA and operates a children’s ministry at his church.

“I don’t really think I’m doing that much. God gives me strength,” he said.

Mr. Blakemore, 54, will be honored Wednesday at the Hamilton County Commission meeting for community service and for being a good father.

“We’ll give him a plaque and his wife a clock to keep up with him,” Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck said. “Many times people who do work in the community are overlooked. It may behoove us to point these people out.”

There was no contest or criteria set for the recognition. Mr. Beck said he just selected someone among many qualified people to honor.

Mr. Blakemore isn’t only a father to his own children — two adults in their 20s, and five other children ranging from ages 10 to 2 — he is also a surrogate father to others, Mr. Beck said.

Marlynn Blakemore, 36, his wife of 10 years, describes her husband as a man of character and good morals.

“Sam is a man of honesty and integrity, a wonderful and devoted husband and father. He loves the Lord and seeks his face in all he does,” Mrs. Blakemore said.

Samuel Blakemore Jr. called his dad a fun person.

“He really hangs around with me and has fun with me,” Samuel said. “Instead of putting me down, like some other people might do, he gives me compliments and spends time me.”

Mr. Blakemore said he intentionally began reaching out to youngsters less than five years ago after having a dream in which he saw children leaning over a bridge while he was driving by. He knew they were in danger, but he didn’t stop because he was looking for his own children in the dream, he said. When he came to a road below the bridge, he saw another man carrying his children in a wagon and then he looked back at the children he left on the bridge.

“I knew what the Lord was telling me — they’re all my children,” he said.

Soon after the dream, Mr. Blakemore and his family moved from Harrison to Taylor Street, an inner-city community in East Chattanooga.

“I wanted to be closer to the community,” he said.

He started the Brown Academy Chess Club this year with about 30 students and was voted PTA president for the 2009-10 school year.

Lea Ann Burk, principal at Brown Academy, describes him as “a very selfless person who always puts his family first in everything he does.”

Mr. Blakemore also works with youth at United Community Baptist Church, where he is associate minister. He drives the children to the church, feeds them and teaches them the Bible.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Byron McClure Jr., said he is so impressed with Mr. Blakemore that he’s going to try to attend the Hamilton County Commission meeting Wednesday.

“He’s an outstanding example of what we really need in our community to reach our young people,” Mr. McClure said. “Once he puts his hands to the plow on issue, he’s going to see it through.”

Mr. Beck said he’s highlighting Mr. Blakemore hoping to inspire others by his service.

“Most people go to their resting place never fulfilling their purpose,” Mr. Beck said. “A lot of potential is in the graveyard. But when someone becomes aware of the need for his service, we want to acknowledge it.”