Elvis has left the building! - Occupational/Hobby Grave Stones on Waymarking.com

Elvis Has Left The Building!

This is a very unique grave and headstone....

When “Elvis” left the building for this last time, we know where he went. He is now being watched over by some enthroned Italian marble ancestors gazing serenely over all that are present at this cemetery.

Born in 1940 to a West Virginia coal miner, this Elvis impersonator, Marion Kenneth “Kenn” Blankenship grew up to become an Ohio State Trooper when living in New Richmond, Ohio, near his parents and siblings. Later he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he started working for the Southern Bell Company. He was later transferred to Bainbridge, Georgia, and later to Colquitt, Georgia.

It was in Colquitt that he met and married his wife in 1978. At that time he was playing lead guitar for the country band, “East River Junction”. In 1979 he resigned from the phone company, and he and his wife bought a restaurant in Bainbridge and turned it into a supper club where the band performed on weekends. The band traveled all over the southeast playing music from the 50s through the 80s.

Kenn loved singing the old time rock and roll and old classics, but he loved singing the gospel best of all. As he sang the gospel he was quoted as saying, "I can feel the words in my soul."

They later sold the restaurant in Bainbridge and built a campground near their home in the Enterprise Community of Miller County, Georgia. This is where they formed their own band and traveled for 20 years all over the southeast. They performed for Moose Lodges, Shrine Temples, American Legions, Country Clubs, VFWs, Federal Conventions, and political rallies. He was nominated to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

In the 1990s, Kenn decided to start doing Elvis shows when he recorded one of his music CDs. He was told by the recording studio that he had everything to do it…… the voice, the talent, and the statue…all he had to do was shave his mustache and dye his hair. He accepted and ordered three Elvis suits from the same company that made the real Elvis suits.

He was a hit everywhere he performed. He played at the Albany Civic Center for a State of Georgia function, and his show was the warm up for the Coasters and Platters at the civic center for their "Grown Folks Night Out" function. Wherever he performed, it was standing room only. So many people would come up and tell him it was like seeing an "Elvis" show.

They were responsible for building most of the buildings at the Emerald Lake Resort to include the music showcase building. They later sold the campground; however, Kenn performed several shows in the music showcase for the new owner.

Kenn's health later began to fail him in April of 2008. He suffered a very massive heart attack. After recovering from the heart attack he did two more shows at Emerald Lake. These were his last performances and this “Elvis” had left the building for the last time. After this, he developed pneumonia several times and had congestive heart failure. Later, his kidneys stopped functioning and finally his life at on this earth at the age of 68 came to an end on Monday, June 8, 2009.

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Is Gravestone Showing Occupation or Hobby?: Occupation What is depicted occupation or hobby?: An Elvis impersonator.....tribute artist. Date of birth: 10/30/1940 Date of death: 06/08/2009 Access hours and days: 24/7; however, some county law enforcements may not appreciate someone visiting a cemetery during hours of darkness.

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