Donald E. Blanchard of Denver died on November 25, 2014. He was 90. He was born July 21, 1924 in Denver, and graduated valedictorian of the East High Class of 1942. He served in the Army from 1943 - 1946, reaching the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He married Cynthia May on December 25, 1946 in Denver.
Don earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Yale in 1948 and was graduated Phi Beta Kappa. In 1962 he received a Juris Doctor degree, Cum Laude from the University Of Denver, College Of Law. He was president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado when he retired in 1988.
His career included being general manager of a family business; Vice President for Finance and house counsel of Colorado Woman’s College; and Vice President, Finance at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. In 1971 he was appointed Vice President of Sunbeam Corporation in Chicago. He returned to Denver to practice law in 1975, and joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield in 1977 as Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary.
Active in civic affairs, he was a Republican candidate for the Colorado state legislature in 1954, and President of the Denver Kiwanis Club in 1959. Don served on the Board of St. Luke’s Nursing School as well as Presbyterian Hospital, Red Cross, Chamber of Commerce, and CACI in Denver. He was active in Rotary while in Galesburg, and at Blue Cross while in Denver.
He was predeceased by his mother Agnes P. Hurd. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia; two sons, James D. (Debra) of Lakewood and Robert W. of California; and four grandchildren, Matthew, Peter, Jeffrey and Marcus.
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