Vivian McGraw Blakelock, 81, of Princess Anne, was called home by her Savior on Thursday, July 31, 2025, at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury due to complications from congestive heart failure. She had recently moved into a sunny new cottage in Salisbury with her tiny cat Star and was looking forward to playing cards with friends and family there.

Born February 28, 1944, in San Francisco, CA, she was one of two daughters born to John Raymond McGraw and Evelyn Frances Bickford McGraw. Vivian loved to tell the story of how she was born an hour before Leap Year.

She and her late husband of 49 years, Rev. Thomas W. Blakelock, traveled the world during his 20-year enlistment in the U.S. Navy. They made a home wherever they landed: the Azores, Portugal; Okinawa, Japan; and Rota, Spain. Although they married in San Francisco, Tom and Vivian made their home on the Eastern Shore after Tom found his calling as a preacher, taking residence at parsonages in Whaleyville, Crisfield, and Princess Anne.

After pouring her energy into raising four children and supporting the churches her husband served, Vivian was proud to earn her Bachelor's Degree from Salisbury University in her 50s and became a beloved school librarian and reading specialist at Greenwood Elementary School in Princess Anne, where she later retired.

She was a member of the PEO Sisterhood, the First Baptist Church in Princess Anne, and a former member of the Junior Auxiliary Board of McCready Hospital (now TidalHealth). She was a songbird who loved singing in the church choir; she was a prolific poet; she was a gifted crafter who sewed quilts for her grandchildren, and made intricate greeting cards for her friends; and she was known by many as "The Origami Lady" for making colorful paper origami dogs, kittens, and flowers for everyone she came in contact with. She always wore a vibrant flower or butterfly bow in her hair and a smile on her face.

She is survived by three children, Matthew Blakelock and wife Kassie of Snow Hill, MD, Colleen Blakelock and wife Adrienne DeAngelo of Oakland, CA, and John Blakelock and wife Jade of Pleasant Hill, CA; seven grandchildren, Kallie Blakelock, Jack Blakelock, Charlie Gus Blakelock, Enzo Blakelock, Luke Blakelock, Ezra Blakelock, and Cora Blakelock. She loved that her granddaughter Cora's birthday was just a day earlier than her own (February 27).

In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by her daughter,  Jennifer Lynn Blakelock Adkins; and her sister, Jacqueline Dolan.

Funeral services officiated by Pastor Jamie DeVaughn will be held Monday, August 4, 2025, at 3 PM at First Baptist Church in Princess Anne, where a visitation will be from 2-3 PM.  Interment will follow in Beechwood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be sent to The P.E.O. Sisterhood, an international nonprofit organization where women motivate, educate, and celebrate women. Please send to PEO Chapter V, c/o Kathleen Raffa, 6163 Tarry Town Road, Salisbury, MD 21801.

Arrangements are in the care of Hinman Funeral Home. To send condolences, please visit www.hinmanfuneralhome.com