SA's former Deputy Premier Frank Blevins has died The late Frank Blevins, former deputy premier and treasurer, in his Parliament House office in 1997. FORMER Deputy Premier and Treasurer Frank Blevins has died after a battle with cancer. Mr Blevins, in his early seventies, had been in and out of hospital in recent months after being diagnosed about a year ago. Labor backbencher and former Health Minister John Hill tweeted yesterday: "Very sad to learn of death of Frank Blevins. An honourable & dedicated Labor man. Vale Frank. In 2008 Mr Blevins was admitted to hospital after falling from a ladder and surgeons were forced to amputate his leg below the knee. Mr Blevins moved to Australia from England in 1956, becoming a merchant seaman and union official before entering Parliament as a Labor member in 1975. He retired in 1997.