Blaine Arthur Warner passed away on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015. Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 11, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 110 S. Main St. in Taylor. He was born Oct. 10, 1929, in Reedstown, Wis., to Jay and Elsie (Snell) Warner. Jay was an automobile mechanic, and with a growing family, began a small dairy farm to supplement the family income during the difficult depression years. Blaine had older brothers Verlyn and Lyle, and an older sister Phyllis. A younger sister, Myrna, and younger brother, Wendall, completed this family. Blaine attended public schools, and joined the boxing team at Viroqua High School. While working for a neighbor farmer one year during high school, Blaine met this farmer’s niece, Valice Tollefson. The following year, in 1949, they married shortly after Valice’s graduation from high school. After moving from Viroqua to Milwaukee, Blaine went to work for Elmer Brunner, who taught him the brick laying trade. Children soon followed, with Marilyn in 1950, Brian in 1951 and Sharon in 1953. In 1954 they moved to Arizona, where Ellen was born in 1955, Denine in 1958 and lastly Kevin in 1960. After working for John F Long in Phoenix for a few years as a brick layer, in 1959 Blaine set out on his own and formed Warner Masonry, Inc. This venture started out small, but grew to be a large, successful operation, employing at times more than 100 employees. During the recession of 1979-84 an unfortunate bankruptcy of a general contractor left the company heavily in debt. Unable to earn enough during the recession to pay the debt, Warner Masonry also declared bankruptcy and closed for good in 1983. After this, Blaine worked at various occupations, including executive director of the Arizona Masonry Guild, consignment sales and finally many years as a golf course starter, where he lived in retirement at Willow Brook Country Club in Lakeside, Calif. With declining health, Blaine and Valice sold their home in Lakeside in 2013 and moved to Overgaard to live with their oldest daughter, Marilyn, and her husband Von. Valice is still living here, and Blaine, after a long, but largely painless decline due to Alzheimer’s disease, passed peacefully late in the evening of New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day, 2015-2016. Silver Creek Mortuary of Taylor was in charge of the arrangements.