Francis Blanchard
October 16, 1943 – February 12, 2024
Francis (Frank) Blanchard passed away, 02/12/24, at his home in Lady Lake, Florida. He was battling heart issues for the past few years.
Frank was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Clayton Blanchard and Doris Swenson. His mother Doris passed away in 1946 from polio.He grew up in Millbury, Massachusetts and raised a family in Massachusetts and York Beach, Maine.
Frank’s wife of 40 years, Maureen Sarja, passed away in 2004 after battling complications from diabetes. He and Maureen had 3 children: Brian Blanchard and his wife Amber of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Mark Blanchard and his wife Paula of Plymouth, Massachusetts. There are seven grandchildren of which he was very proud of them and their accomplishments. They are Justin and Jack Blanchard, Emily and Abbey Blanchard, Tyler, Evan and Matthew Russell.
Frank’s daughter Karen Marie Blanchard Russell and her husband Paul Russell lived in Auburn, Massachusetts. Karen died in 2012 leaving three sons. He also leaves his brother Wayne E Blanchard and wife Sandy of Hazelton, PA. A sister Susan and her husband Joseph Laramee of Oxford, Massachusetts, and many nieces and nephews. He also leaves a very close friend, Jane Brouillard of Massachusetts.
Frank was employed by Norton Company Machine Tool Division and Rice Barton Corp at Worcester, Mass in their engineering Division. His engineering education was at Worcester Junior college with studies in Finance at Bryant College. He was employed for 30 years at SEM, Security Engineered Machinery, in Westboro, Mass as Vice President and General Manager. SEM was a GSA Contractor.
Frank graduated from Millbury High School, attended Worcester Junior College and was active with local Cub Scouts, Little League and Senior League Baseball in Millbury as well as president of a local Snowmobile Club. He enjoyed working on the design and overall construction supervision of several homes in the area. He also spent over 20 years in two of his favorite leisure activities, wood carving and genealogy research. In Florida he coordinated Golf activities for the Thursday Golf Group for five years.
All services will be private. After cremation, the family will hold a private memorial at the convenience of the family. The family suggests donations in his memory be made to St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Frank’s name.
