Thomas Philip Blanchard, age 54, died unexpectedly on Friday, September 28, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky while traveling on business for a job and career he excelled in and truly loved. From his birth in Redwood City, California on July 26, 1964 to his death he has been known as a ‘doer’, always on the go, carefree in his approach to life with dreams for a great future and always working hard with a very big heart. While Tom was the middle of three children, Tami his older sister, and Stacy his younger sister as a kid he engaged in boy scouts, was an altar boy at St. Pius Catholic Church and played in a range of sports. He was one of the ‘best kids’ as his mother describes him and excelled in elementary school even when he did not do his homework! In his early teen years thru to his early thirties he lived life to the fullest, with many wild stories and some unfortunate events he had always said he was thankful to have lived thru to tell the tale and pass those experiences and learnings onto his children. Tom had a true passion and talent when it came to all things, cars, machines and sales. These strengths came to serve him well over nearly 25 years of life in the heavy and intelligent equipment industry and resulted in him meeting his true love, of now six years, Christi Francis who lived in Texas. While he lived in California most of his life, the evolution of his career and finding happiness in Christi created an opportunity for a move to Texas in 2014 where Tom, his two boys, Christi and her two girls took a chance on creating their version of a modern family. He was quite proud of his accomplishments in his career and in establishing a home to enjoy with his family. Relaxing in the pool, playing with the animals, tackling snow activities when back in California, engaging the entire family in the fun of dirt bikes and numerous trips to Disneyland with his kids filled his soul. While the Texas move had him rooting for the locals, he remained forever faithful to the SF 49ers, but more importantly the SF Giants and GS Warriors. A true Bay Area fan at heart who was the first to call his CA family upon the World Series wins of 2010, 2012 and 2014. Tom was preceded in death by his twin sons Thomas and Nicholas Blanchard and is survived by his loving partner Christi Francis, daughter Emilie Henkel Blanchard, sons Dylan and Devin Blanchard, step-daughters Savanna and Mikayla Francis, grandson Jay Thomas Blanchard, his mother and father, Roselle and Thomas Blanchard, sister Tami Brodsky (husband Ted Brodsky), sister Stacy Blanchard McKinney (husband Joel McKinney), his nephew Ken Johnson (wife Samantha Bassin Johnson) and nieces Kelli Johnson, Ella Rose McKinney and Paige McKinney and his many aunts and uncles. Family and friends are invited to attend Memorial services at 6pm on Thursday, October 25th at the Redwood Chapel in Redwood City, California with a brief reception at the Chapel following the service. Tom’s final resting place will be at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park, CA.
