Jesse L. Blackwood

Jesse Laubach Blackwood, older-brother-extraordinaire, 65, of Fountain Hill, PA entered into eternal life on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. He graduated from Southern Lehigh HS and found a niche for his love of music by playing the clarinet. His fondness for Big Bands and musicals was often evidenced by sharing YouTube clips of favorite renditions via email. He was an adventurous, young voyager who explored major cities nationally and abroad, fulfilling eight out of 10 "Bucket List" endeavors and challenging his family to pursue similar (if not as enthralling) festivities. Jesse had a life-long passion for WORDS - reading, writing, or doing the NYT crossword puzzles (in ink). Among his favorite authors were Herman Wouk and John Irving (Jesse, you are my Owen Meany). He was a humble, quiet, and introspective person who found expression and courage through his keyboard. Common Jesse-isms include abbreviations, parentheses, dramatic dashes, and ... A curious man, full of wonder, creativity, and quick-wit as evidenced is his award-winning short stories and entertaining emails which often left one laughing-out-loud. Jesse was organized and detail-oriented which assisted him tremendously in a career as a secretary for 19 years at UPenn and Lehigh University. He was gentle, tender-hearted, and treasured for his listening ear and encouraging words during telecons. His "VOICE" will be dearly missed by many, especially J/S/E.
Jesse's absence will be lovingly felt by his parents Jeanette (nee Laubach) and John Blackwood, Jr, his "favorite" sister, Jane R. Lindemuth (children, Sarah, Emily, and Joshua), brothers, James (son, Jason), Joel (daughters, Katie and Lauren), and Jay (wife, Zai and son, Zain), and copious amounts of cousins, too numerous to list, but not forgotten. Jesse was predeceased in death by his brother, John Blackwood, III (wife, Anna and sons, John IV and Jeramy).
A private celebration of Jesse's life will be held at a later date. Jesse's counsel was "Live vicariously - take chances, embrace experiences; as Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell played the role; if you get the opportunity, watch it) says, ‘Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.' Dare, experiment, experience...LIVE! As always, TINI."
A memory tribute may be placed at www.cantelmifuneralhome.com

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