Rev. Donald Blanchette
Rev. Donald Blanchette
Reverend Donald Francis Blanchette passed away on April 6, 2022, in the home of his eldest daughter who lives in Concho, Arizona. He was born to Alphonse J. and Beatrice Blanchette on June 30, 1928 in Framingham, Massachusetts. After graduating from Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine, Don spent his career as a United Church of Christ Minister serving in many states including: Maine, New York, Iowa, California, Hawaii, Washington, Ohio, and Louisiana. While serving as the pastor for the First Congregational Church in Webster City, Iowa (1962-1966) Rev. Blanchette was active in the Civil Rights Movement 1964-1966. He assisted in securing voting rights and personally distributed clothing to underserved people in Hattisburg, Mississippi. He marched with Coretta King in Selma, Alabama. Rev. Blanchette was also concerned with human rights around the world and was sponsored to travel with other religious leaders to the interior of Africa during the Congo uprising. Upon retirement, Rev. Blanchette returned to Webster City, Iowa, a community he always loved, and spent ten years with his partner, Shirley Yungclass, until such time his health demanded greater medical attention.
Reverend Donald Blanchette was best known for his magnetic, flamboyant sermons and his ability to rally support for human causes. He brought a social action focus to each church he served, and laced his preaching with the principles of metaphysical thought which served as the underpinning for his theology and life philosophy. In his later years, his compassion focused on children, and he was a generous donor to the St. Jude’s Research Hospital. He also donated the land and home to create the Lodestar Self-Care Center in Show Low, Arizona, which offers space for alternative health workshops and counseling for Apache County residents.
His restless spirit was fed by the thousands of books he read exploring history, human relationships, and the marriage of science and spirituality. His study filled with a library of books and served as his most comfortable environment wherever he lived. His deeply annotated books now reside at the Lodestar Gardens Cooperative Library in Arizona. Throughout his life, he retained his love for his New England heritage and the wild Atlantic Eastern sea coast, returning intermittently to refresh his memories. One of his favorite quotes is representative of his constant quest for peace: “It makes no difference whether I am here or somewhere else. It makes no difference if I acquire things or do not acquire things. It makes all the difference in the world that I be at peace with whatever I am doing.” A memorial service will be held for Reverend Donald Francis Blanchette in Show Low, Arizona, in September this year.
He is survived by his partner, Shirley Yungclass (Webster City, Iowa), his daughters: Barbara Hockabout (Concho, AZ), Susan Johnson (La Jolla, California), and Carol Braswell (Boise, Idaho), and 7 grandchildren, and 22 great grandchildren.