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Jerome Blankinship was born in Hollywood, California in 1933 to Herman and Helen Blankinship. Jerome grew up as an only child in a suburb of Los Angeles called Huntington Park. He spent his entire childhood in the suburb and finished high school there as well. Then he went on to attend the University of Southern California. He received a degree in education and wanted to be a school teacher, but after a short stint in teaching at the Los Angeles City School District, he discovered that it was not for him. He then went back to graduate school and earned a master's in counseling and guidance. After graduating he received a Rockefeller grant to attend seminary, which was a calling that Blankinship had been very interested in. He attended the same seminary school that Martin Luther King Jr. went to, Boston University, School of Theology in Boston. Once finished with seminary, Blankinship pastored a church in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. Then the Reverend was offered an opportunity in Las Vegas to start a new church. After visiting, Blankinship fell in love with Las Vegas and moved in the summer of 1966 and has been here since. In the interview he shares a vast amount of information about the Las Vegas valley during his early years in the city. Today Blankinship is the senior Chaplain at Sunrise Hospital.