Friends recall Milton man's impact on the community

MILTON — William “Bill” Bledsoe Jr., also known as Uncle Buddy to many members of the community, made an impact on the lives of many before dying May 26.

Bledsoe was born March 24, 1930, in Ferriday, La., to William C. and Gracie May Bledsoe. He lived in Lake Charles, La., until moving to Los Angeles to attend Bible College.

Bledsoe served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 12 years and was married to Leona C. Bledsoe for 49 years. After leaving the Marines, he stayed in Long Beach, Calif., where he lived and worked until July of 2000. He then moved to Milton to live near his sibling, Elouise Mayeaux, and her family.

According to Bledsoe’s daughter, Viola, he volunteered with the Milton Benevolent Cemetery Board, Young Marines, Marine Corps League, American Legion in Milton, several local churches, Milton High School’s NJROTC, the Milton Housing Authority, the Santa Rosa County Fair, the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, the Red Cross and other emergency shelters, and local voting polls.

“He will be remembered for his work ethic, his heart always willing to work hard and help anybody that needed the help,” Viola said. “He did a lot of this also when he lived in California before he moved here. That didn’t just come up when he moved here 17 years ago; he lived for service.”

“He was a good friend,” Pastor Fred Rogers of the First Assembly of God in Milton said. “He was the kind of guy that you just like when you’re around him. … He was always giving money to something. If you mentioned some special need, he was always so willing to give [to] that. He always brought my wife flowers just about every time he came to anything we had at the church.”

Bledsoe worked with Milton High’s NJROTC for many years.

“Mr. Bledsoe, through providing community service opportunities to hundreds of cadets over the years, has provided life-long memories and provided a sense of civic duty to the community and to the country,” LCDR Jeff Dyer, the senior naval science instructor for the Milton NJROTC, said.

Bledsoe was also a member of the Santa Rosa County Fair Association.

“He absolutely cared and was such a faithful volunteer, and we could always count on him to show up every year and to be there to help coordinate the vendors and to greet the people coming in the fair,” Kyle Holley, member of the fair association, said. “It was nothing for him to greet in a week 30,000 people. He was just a super, super guy and absolutely committed to the [fair].”

As chairman of the Milton Benevolent Cemetery Board, he devoted much of his time to maintaining and enhancing the cemetery’s appearance.

“He was such a vital part of the cemetery and the cemetery board,” member Pamela Mitchell said. “He took on leadership of the board and revitalization of the cemetery I think about 12 years ago.”

According to Mitchell, the board has never been able to have the whole cemetery maintained in just one cleanup; however, a May 30 to June 2 effort left the area in its best shape. Local lawn service companies volunteered, as did individuals and community leaders.

“He had the biggest heart, and he loved his country and his community more than any person I have ever been exposed to,” Mitchell said.  

A visitation and memorial service were held June 1 at the First Assembly of God in Milton. Family requests donations to the Milton Benevolent Cemetery Board in lieu of flowers.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Friends recall Milton man's impact on the community