National

Fred Blankenship celebrates fatherhood in moving interview

Just days before the celebration of fatherhood nationwide, Channel 2 Action News anchor Fred Blankenship recorded a touching tribute to his late father. Fred Douglas Blankenship Jr. or “Junior,” as he was called by friends and loved ones, lost his life at the age of 57.

"My dad always believed in me, even in times when I wasn't necessarily sure that I believed in myself," Blankenship told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Junior believed in his son and that still means the world to me."

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Blankenship said his relationship with his father was most likely typical of a father-son relationship in the seventies. When his father told him to do something, he did it.

“All these conversations I have now with my two sons and my daughter now, I’m not sure they quite existed back in 1979 and 80 in Fred Douglas Blankenship Jr.’s house. I’m not sure they did,” he said.

Blankenship was only 28 when his father died. He said he always felt “slightly robbed” that he didn’t have his father as their relationship moved from that of father-son to that of friends.

“There was a big portion of my life that, when it came to family and growth, where I didn’t have the chance to have my dad be the sounding board.”

Blankenship, who is the married father to Freddy, Layla and Jaden, said he knows that every day his own father is with him in everything that he does.