Courtland – Allen Tillson Bland, 89, of Courtland, Virginia, passed away peacefully on June 5, 2018, four days before his 90th birthday, after an all too brief but valiant battle with lung cancer.

A native of Windsor, Virginia, he was born June 9, 1928, the eldest child of the late Charlie Allen and Virgie Cobb Bland. Along with his parents, he was predeceased by his sister Flora B. Holland and a brother Donald R. Bland.

Allen served in the U.S. Army, stationed in the Philippines, and later served as a corporal in the Virginia National Guard. He was a member of Hunterdale Christian Church. After a thirty-seven-year career in papermaking, he retired from Union Camp Corporation in 1988.

On December 4, 1947 he married the love of his life, Norma Faye Herring, with whom he shared seventy years of a wonderful life together.

Left to cherish his memory are his loving wife Norma Bland, daughter Betty Faye B. Hawkins (Howard) of Franklin, sons Robert A. Bland and Richard W. Bland, both of Charlottesville, brothers Charles W. Bland of Windsor, R. Ivan Bland of Courtland, and James E. Bland of Sedley, devoted brother and sister-in-law Eugene and Jo Ann Herring, three grandchildren of whom he was so proud, Aaron Bland Hawkins (Brittany), Anna Elizabeth Hawkins, and Beau Alexander Hawkins, and two adored great-grandchildren, Charlotte Rose Hawkins and his namesake Tillson Bland Hawkins.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, June 11, 2018 in Wright Funeral Home with the Rev. Don Rosie officiating. Burial with Military Honors will follow at Holly Lawn Cemetery, Suffolk. The family will receive friends Sunday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the American Cancer Society. www.wrightfuneralhome.org