Joseph Charles Blanchette's Obituary
Surrounded by the family he loved, Joseph Charles Blanchette, age 92, of Lawrence, MA, passed away on June 8, 2015 at Lawrence General Hospital, the result of a fall four days earlier. He was born in Lawrence on October 23, 1922, the son of Edgar ?Scoots? Blanchette (d. 1958) and Frances Patricia Cassidy (d. 1942). He was predeceased by his infant brother John (d. 1929) and the brother he cherished, Edgar ?Buddy? Blanchette (d. 2012). He was the grandson of Peter F. Cassidy, Lawrence?s ?Shanty Pond Poet.? Joe graduated from St. Patrick?s Grammar School in 1936 and Central Catholic High School in 1940. After initially being turned down for military service due to poor eyesight, he asked for reconsideration in June of 1942. He was called to duty by the U.S. Army in January of 1943 and served in Burma during World War II. Upon his return from the war, he was hired by the New England Telephone Company, where he worked until he retired in 1987.
On June 1, 1947, he married Nancy Claire Hyland (d. 2006) at St. Patrick?s Church, where he was a parishioner for all but a dozen years of his life. They had four children together over the next 10 years: Diane, Joseph, Sue Ann, and William. For the better part of the next three decades they resided at 53 Everett Street and attended St. Patrick?s Church. Joe was very active in the church community and was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Holy Name Society and later in life, the Men of St. Patrick. Joe was best known as the driving force and director of the parish?s annual CYO Minstrel Shows for more than two decades. In the years that followed he ran musical variety shows for the Knights of Columbus and other groups. Even during the final years of his life he organized and sang in small musical performances with ?The Sutton Hill Swooners,? a group from Lawrence that toured area nursing homes each year to entertain seniors.
Everyone who knew Joe understood what he valued most: his Catholic faith, his family, his friends and music ??good music? from Big Band and Dixieland era. He attended weekly Mass and every morning until the day he died he said the rosary, twice. His love and devotion to his wife of almost 60 years was joyous to observe and inspiring, especially during the difficult last years of her life. For as long as his family can remember, Joe and Nancy would have their extended group of friends??the gang??over to their house for cookouts and parties of every sort. Inevitably these gatherings would end with dozens of friends gathered around the piano singing their hearts out well into the night.
Joe reveled when in the presence of his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. He kept track of their goings-on; never judging them, always cheering them on, and proudly wearing their college sweatshirts on a rotating basis. He never missed attending a baptism, graduation or wedding, and made many a ball game and school function. He treasured every opportunity to attend a family gatherings where he could get caught up on their lives, tell them stories about ?the good old days,? like when he played baseball behind the Weatherbee School, and finally get to play the family?s traditional card game with them: ?45s.? They, in turn, treasured their grandfather and lauded the example he set for them about living one?s life.
In the years following Nancy?s death in 2006, Joe devoted much of his time volunteering at Sutton Hill nursing home in North Andover. He would faithfully drive to the facility three days a week to bring good cheer and play cards (?45s? yet again) with ?the old folks,? virtually all of whom were his junior. In addition, once a month he would bring his I-pod and play music from the 30s and 40s, which he presented in the form of a radio program and tell stories about each song and musical artist. He called it ?The Make Believe Ballroom? and the residents loved it.
Joe Blanchette will be sorely missed for his unbounded love, compassion, friendship, support, and playful wit by his children: Diane Creeley of Peterborough, NH, Joseph P. Blanchette and his wife, Peg, of Charlotte, VT, Sue Ann Ziakas and her husband, Chuck, of North Hampton, NH, and William M. Blanchette and his wife, Debra, of Lawrence. Besides his children, he will be greatly missed by his sister-in-law, Eileen Blanchette of Charlotte, NC, many nieces and nephews, and especially his grandchildren: Joshua Blanchette, Jude Daniel Blanchette; Matthew Blanchette, Diana Blanchette; Timothy Ziakas and his wife, Erica; Michael Ziakas, his wife, Laurie, and great-grandson, Ian; Christopher Ziakas and his wife, Melissa; Johanna Creeley; Brian Creeley, his wife, Christine, and great-granddaughters, Harper and Reagan; Sean Creeley, his wife, Andi, and great-granddaughter, Esen; Meghan Creeley and her fianc , Adam Gould. Grandson William J. Blanchette of Lawrence predeceased his grandfather in 1983.
His Funeral will be held from the Pollard Funeral Home 233 Lawrence St. in Methuen on Friday June 12 at 10am followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Patrick?s Church 118 S. Broadway in Lawrence at 11am. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at the Funeral Home on Thursday, June 11, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. Burial will be at the Bellevue Cemetery, North Lawrence. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sutton Hill Resident Council Fund c/o The Sutton Hill Center, 1801 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA 01845.
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