Phillip Bailey Blanchard

Phillip Bailey Blanchard

Peterborough NH - In his favorite winter setting, near the warmth of the fireplace, surrounded by family and good friends, Phillip Bailey Blanchard passed away peacefully at his home in Peterborough, NH on the evening of December 26, 2022. He was 88 years old.

Phil was born on March 12, 1934 in Fort Worth, TX to Marian and Ralph Blanchard. At age three his family returned to Kingston, MA where he grew up in a close-knit, small-town neighborhood with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins always nearby-where he enjoyed riding bikes, mackerel fishing, time on Saquish Beach, and days spent on the water with his grandfather, a Boston Harbor pilot, on the 130-foot Roseway. He remembered, always with a grin, the iceman delivering the huge chunks of ice that provided refrigeration in those days. As a young man he had an Austin Healy sports car, and loved driving his mother to visit family on Cape Cod.

Phil graduated Kingston High School in 1952 where his favorite sport was baseball and he received the Class Best Actor award. Flying was in his blood and he worked as crop duster crew for Wiggins Airways and earned his private pilot license in a Piper Cub at a time when small planes could still land on Duxbury Beach.

On February 8, 1954 nineteen-year-old Phil joined the US Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base, TX. After flight school at Ellington Field in Houston his first assignment was flying B-26 light bombers at Langley AFB in Hampton, VA.

Phil piloted aerial refueling KC-97 and KC-135 Stratotankers for Strategic Air Command. During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, supporting the naval blockade of Cuba, and US efforts to avoid nuclear war, he flew scouting missions searching for Russian ships carrying missiles to Cuba. In Vietnam his role in the crew was navigator and he flew more than one hundred refueling missions, once using nearly all of the plane's fuel to bring a heavily damaged plane and its pilot to a safe landing.

During the career that he loved, Phil received many citations, decorations and medals, among them: US Meritorious Service Medal; US Armed Forces Air Medal; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award; and Vietnam Service Medal.

In the late 1970s and early 80s Phil organized several annual Pease AFB Open Houses hosting the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels precision aerobatic teams. He served as Deputy Commander of Base Operations on two bases: Griffis AFB in Rome, NY; and finally at Pease AFB in Portsmouth, NH where he retired on July 31, 1983, having achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Phil, along with many other Vietnam War era veterans, had never been publicly honored for their service in that conflict. In 2015 the Cheney-Armstrong Post #5 of the American Legion created a celebration and presented Phil and other area vets with medals honoring their service.

In retirement Phil reconnected with Jane (Bailey, Anderson), and moved to Peterborough where they were married in August 1991. New Hampshire and the Monadnock Region became a beloved home-boating on Lake Winnipesauke and the New Hampshire seacoast; golf with buddies Stan and Lester at the Monadnock Country club where he was manager for several years and a member since 1986; woodworking in his home workshop; with Jane serving as "Courtesy Patrol" at Temple Mountain Ski area; and in the summertime, with Jane, in their hats and sunglasses, driving around town with the top down in his vintage 1986 Suzuki Samurai! A good man of few words, always with a twinkle in his blue eyes, he was content, reliable, kind-hearted and generous. Phil was a skilled craftsman who loved history, cooking, crossword puzzles in ink, solitaire with real cards, candle-making, and telling a good joke. He was a member of Cheney-Armstrong Post #5 of the American Legion and supported many veterans organizations and charities.

His love of flying was life-long-he was always able to identify passing aircraft. And, on his 85th birthday he took to the skies for the last time, in Winter Haven, FL co-piloting a restored 1941 Boeing-Stearman PT-17 biplane.

Phil is survived by his beloved wife of 32 years, Jane Blanchard, and the seven children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren of their large combined family. As well, he is survived by his brother David Blanchard. Phil's surviving children are, Holly Milter, Kim Hamlet (Don), and Scott Blanchard (Nely); his grandchildren are, Zachary (Blake), Rachel (Kristopher), and James (Sara); and his great-granddaughters are Elsie and Ava. Jane's children are, Teresa Anderson, Douglas Anderson (Jennifer), David Anderson (Kara), and Kenneth Anderson (Jana Salisbury); and her grandchildren are Oliver, Eli, Brock and Beau. Phil was predeceased by his brother Robert Blanchard and son and daughter-in-law Kevin and Leysa Blanchard.

On Sunday, May 21 there will be a private memorial service and lunch at the Monadanock Country Club, followed by a celebration of life, which is open to the public, at 1:30 PM.

Donations in Phil's honor may be made to:

American Legion Cheney-Armstrong Post #5, P.O. Box 172, Peterborough, NH 03458; Monadnock Country Club, 49 High Street, Peterborough, NH 03458; or Hospice at Home Healthcare, Hospice & Community Services, 9 Vose Farm Road #110, Peterborough, NH 03458.