Frank Blackwell
Frank Lee "Bucky" Blackwell was an American academic administrator and politician from the state of West Virginia. He served as a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1976 to 1982 and again in 2016.
Life and career
Blackwell was born on June 9, 1947, in Mullens, West Virginia, the son of James R. "Tuck" and Kathleen Blackwell. He earned degrees in elementary education in 1969 and educational administration in 1971 from Marshall University. He married Trudy Canterbury on April 4, 1970, and they would have two children. He worked as a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent for a total of 15 years, then as superintendent of Wyoming County schools from 1982 to 2016. He was honored as West Virginia superintendent of the year in 2016. Blackwell was appointed by Governor Jim Justice as Executive Director of the School Building Authority of West Virginia, serving in that position from January 24, 2017, until he submitted his resignation in March 2018. He also served as a member of the board of governors of Concord University from his appointment by Governor Joe Manchin in March 2008 through June 2016, including as its chair from 2009 to 2013.In 1976, Blackwell was elected to represent the 15th district, comprising Boone and Wyoming counties, in the West Virginia House of Delegates. He was re-elected in 1978 and 1980. On January 12, 2016, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin appointed Blackwell to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of 25th district delegate Linda Phillips. He represented the district, comprising most of Wyoming County and parts McDowell and Mercer counties, during the 2016 legislative session, but lost election to the seat that fall.
Blackwell died at CAMC Memorial Hospital in Charleston, West Virginia, on January 4, 2025, at the age of 77. He had fought an extended battle with sarcoma.