Eric Dillinger Blanchard

Freeport, ME - Eric D. Blanchard, Philadelphia native, newspaperman, and civil rights activist. Died December 19, 2020, at his home in Freeport, ME. He was 87. Surviving are his wife, Judith Hubbling Blanchard, United Church of Christ clergywoman and former Maine Medical Center chaplain, his sons by his first wife (Dorothy Grant Innes) David of Phoenixville, PA, John of Poulsbo, WA, and daughter and son-in-law Jordana and Daniel DeZeeuw Spencer of Denver, CO, and grandchildren, Alexander and Nathaniel Blanchard, Pierson and Garrett Spencer, and Mira and Emerson DeZeeuw Spencer.

Son of Henry Blanchard, an opera baritone and writer, and Isabelle Clark Blanchard, who as a child was the model for the little girl on the Campbell’s soup can and later owner of an NYC Lexington Avenue antique shop, Blanchard & Son. Eric was predeceased by his younger sister, Karen Blanchard Kramer.

He was a 1951 graduate of The George School in Newtown, PA, and a 1955 alumnus of Haverford College. A peace-time army draftee stationed in Munich, Germany, he was the sports editor for the US Army command newspaper.

After his military service, Eric was a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer and briefly a Ben Bradley hiree for The Washington Post. From 1964 to 1966 he was Information Officer for the National Council of Churches Commission on Religion and Race and subsequently spokesman for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Poor People’s Campaign and President Johnson’s National Commission on Civil Disorders (Riot Commission).

A tennis player and USTA certified umpire, Eric, Judith, and son John were all on lines for the same Philadelphia Pro Indoor match in the 1980s. His last tournament officiating was the 1989 US Open.

A self-taught renovation carpenter, Eric loved community and professional theater. He and Judith starred in “The Shadow Box,” a production of their Methodist church in Germantown, PA, and ten years later, Eric directed the same play at Christ Church UCC, in Silver Spring, MD. He was immensely proud of Jordana’s prowess as a Shakespearean actor. He was a volunteer usher in multiple venues, including Portland Stage. His passion for criminal justice and care of the formerly incarcerated was exhibited in serving on the Board of EFEC (Efforts for Ex-Convicts) in Washington, DC, and visiting prisoners in Maryland and Maine.

Eric fell in love with Maine during a college summer visit to Macmahan Island, and he and Judith moved to Freeport in August, 1994. He loved looking out at the Harraseeket every day and anticipating frequent calls from his children, especially nearly daily check-ins and updates on the travails of Philadelphia sports teams from poet son David. He enjoyed StoryCorps interviews with son John during the COVID shutdown, sharing his memories of the past nine decades.

Eric’s family wants to express deep gratitude to the Hospice of Southern Maine and their terrific staff, the Freeport Fire Department for rapid response to Eric’s occasional falls, and the Casco Bay YMCA and Parkinson’s exercise group that added years to his life, as well as the great joy of friendships. To our church family at the Congregational Church in Cumberland UCC and friends at the South Freeport Church, we give thanks for their supportive calls, meals (a 10-pound turkey and all the trimmings for Thanksgiving!), and prayers. It takes a community to make it through. Thanks to our daughter, Jordana, for coming from Denver to care for her Pop to the very end.

Post-COVID the family will gather on Star Island, NH to scatter Eric’s ashes.

Memorial donations may be made to

THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

400 Washington Avenue

Montgomery, AL 36104