Lauren M. Blair

Lauren Michelle Blair passed peacefully into the loving arms of the Lord and reunited with her parents, Reverend Glenn T. Blair and Rebecca (Jones) Blair, and her sister, Beverly K. (Blair) Oyebanjo, on Sunday, March 8, 2026. Born in Columbus, Georgia, in February 1956, she had celebrated her 70th birthday just nine days earlier. The tightly knit Blair family of four, who settled in Binghamton, New York, after relocating from the South in the late 1960s, leaves behind a legacy of faith, service, and love that will endure.

Raised in a home filled with music, books, high expectations, and deep affection, Lauren learned the values of selfless community and church service from her parents’ example. She graduated with high honors from Union Endicott High School, where her parents taught, and went on to study at Broome Community College and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, earning a degree in Apparel Design. A gifted seamstress influenced by her mother, she created countless formal gowns and special-occasion garments for friends and clients, excelling in intricate hand beading. Her artistic talents also shone through commissioned portraiture, oil painting, and clay sculpture, with works featured in professional exhibits.

Lauren enjoyed a long and distinguished career as the lead graphic artist and designer for WSKG Public Television in Vestal, where she shaped the look of the station’s popular programming magazine, Gamut, and created promotional materials for many documentaries and local programs. Earlier, she worked as a graphic artist for WICZ-TV and as an advertising illustrator for McClean’s Department Store in Binghamton.

A talented actress, singer, and musician, Lauren performed in numerous local productions, including roles at the Cider Mill Playhouse, with the Renaissance Revival Theatre, and as a co-founder of Trav’len This Road Theatre alongside her close friends. She served for decades as church pianist and director of the Trinity Singers at Trinity AME Zion Church in Binghamton, where her faith and talents found joyful expression.

Lauren is survived by her chosen family—Ike and Connie Studgeon, their son Nathan and granddaughter Eva; her “other sister” Brenda Cave-James; her “brother” and dear friend C.L. Denson; many lifelong friends and former colleagues, including Brian Frey; her beloved Trinity church family; and the Borgna family, her cherished neighbors—as well as cousins in Georgia and Alabama. Those who knew her will remember her comical, upbeat, quick-witted, and occasionally ornery spirit with great affection, finding comfort in the knowledge that she is now at peace with the family she missed so deeply.