Theogene "TJ" Joseph Blanchard

Theogene "TJ" Joseph Blanchard, age 84, of Pierre Part, LA, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. TJ was born October 27, 1939 in Pierre Part, LA to the late Noe and Noelie Blanchard. He was the youngest of three children. TJ is preceded in death by his brother, Floyd Blanchard and sister Beatrice Tullier.

TJ’s more than 35-year career working for McDermott began at the company’s Morgan City shipyard and led to his family relocating to Scotland for more than 15 years. His career allowed him to travel to places such as London, Paris, Germany, Spain, Norway, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, St. Petersburg, Moscow. Sakhalin, Azerbaijan, Tokyo, and China. Eventually TJ moved back to the United States to McDermott’s New Orleans office from which he retired. Following his career with McDermott, he launched his own company, Blanchard and Associates International, Inc., serving companies such as Performance Contractors and Dynamic Industries. He retired again in 2020.

TJ had an infectious personality and was a friend (or cousin) to everyone who knew him. TJ was very active in the community. He was a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, founder of the Pierre Part Belle River Genealogical Society, board member of the Pierre Part Belle River Museum and of the Assumption Parish Library, as well as a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Atchafalaya Chapter. He was a devout Catholic who lived his faith as an active parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Pierre Part. He was a lector and a member of the choir, the King's Men, and a Come Lord Jesus Group. In addition, he annually attended the Manresa House of Retreats.

In his spare time, TJ enjoyed the outdoors, especially fishing. Whether it was fly-fishing for salmon, searching the marsh for trout or running jug lines for choupique in the bayou, he loved being on the water. TJ also loved hunting pheasants and other wild birds on his travels. He had an expansive genealogy library with many of his ancestry finds going back more than 500 years. He was very proud of his Acadian heritage and would speak French whenever he had the opportunity. He was an avid collector of antique curios, including vintage gasoline, single-piston engines which he loved to restore and exhibit, as well as his little-known stamp, coin, and paper clip collections. TJ would never pass up a good do-it-yourself project. He conducted several house rebuilds, camp renovations, and new shed and fence constructions employing his unique “character building” methods. When things settled down, TJ could be found reading a good book or having a nice glass of wine and a cigar while on his porch swing.

TJ was happy when surrounded by friends and family, enjoying a good meal followed by stories about his many adventures. However, some of his greatest joy came from spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren who called him Papére.

He leaves behind to cherish his memory his wife of 33 years, Liane Combe Blanchard; six children: Dana Blanchard (Ruth), André Blanchard, Lisa McCarthy (Tim), Leslie Hagan (Mike), Lindsey Taconi (Scott), and Landry Dugan (Liz); 16 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, several nieces, nephews, cousins, and innumerable friends.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his honor to the Pierre Part Belle River Museum, P.O. Box 525, Pierre Part, LA 70339 (Venmo: @PPBR-Museum)

A visitation will be held at Ourso Funeral Home in Pierre Part, LA on Monday, April 1, 2024 from 10:30am until 1:45pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church at 2pm with interment to follow in the church mausoleum.

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T.J. Blanchard Eulogy

Delivered by André Blanchard, April 1, 2024

Good afternoon everyone. Thanks to all of you who have come here to remember and pay respects to my late father. You have all known dad in some capacity as a friend, family, colleague, acquaintance, for a short while or for years. Most knew him as “TJ”, some friends and family knew him as “Tich”. Either way, consider yourself fortunate to have been able to know him, the man I have always looked up to. A man who was my mentor and friend, anchor, rock, counsel, confidante and advisor.

I beg your indulgences while I reminisce of the man I have known all my life. I am tasked with encapsulating his life in a few brief minutes. I can only hope this eulogy does him the justice he deserves.

Dad passed away on the morning of Wednesday March 20. Unfortunately, I was not there but he was surrounded by family. The final words he heard from me 4 days prior when I last saw him was “I love you”.

Before I begin I need to offer thanks to a few significant people….

• First, I want to acknowledge Liane. You have stood by him, as his wife, his rock, his angel. In his final couple years, you were always there for him giving him love and support. It was an increasingly daunting task for you but you handled it remarkably well. I cannot express in words how much I appreciate your love and devotion to dad.

• Secondly, my sister Lisa and her husband Tim. You selflessly opened your home and accommodated Dad and Liane once he transferred to Hospice. You were there for his every need in his final days of palliative care. You have my eternal thanks and appreciation for all you did.

• I’d also like to extend our family’s thanks and appreciation to all the medical teams who cared for dad. Your expertise probably gave us a few extra precious years with him.

Dad started from simple beginnings. Like most in this gathering, he was a simple country boy from Pierre Part. Typical of his generation, he found a career in the oil industry.

But something happened in late 1972, an event, an opportunity arose within McDermott and he grabbed it being the visionary he was. He moved his young family overseas to Scotland in January 1973. His only concern was leaving his father behind but PaPere told him to go and go he did.

That move changed the course of our lives forever. I wouldn’t be who I am or be what I am in life without that life altering, pivotal and significant decision he made back then. Scotland had a special place in his heart. He lived there for 15-16 years. It was his home. Over the years there he made many friends and had countless experiences. He often drew parallels between Scottish culture and values with those of his Cajun roots. He embraced his Scottish experience with the typical aplomb he had for anything he had an interest in and affection for. We have several photos of him in his kilt. He wore it proudly there on many occasions and even sported it here a few times. Apart from that he loved to fish, particularly for salmon and we often went fly fishing for trout on a local loch near the house. Dad taught me to fly fish on that loch. He loved hunting often trekking for hours over the hills searching for pheasant, grouse and ptarmigan. He was a good shot- not much got past him! I think all of that was the basis of why he decided to stay there as long as he did since he loved the country and its people. One neighbor and his family affectionately referred to us as “the Yanks on the hill”. After we were both back in the US, we reminisced often of those times and talked of these things sometimes with an accent/ dialect that only he and I could really understand. That time in Scotland was an experience that left a lasting impression on him and influenced the man he was as it did me.

It was not just Scotland that influenced him. During his time with McDermott in the UK, dad traveled the globe visiting many countries including Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Korea, China, Japan, Russia, Azerbajan and the Middle East. His first trip to the far east of Russia (Sakhalin) across that vast country was his last. You would have to hear dad relate the tale but suffice it to say, subsequent trips to Sakhalin were made going west via Korea, Japan or China. He was a quick learner! No more Aeroflot for him!

His international travels placed him in contact with many people. Dad interacted with government ministers, heads of state, industry leaders, sheikhs. He became personal friends with many of these people. One such friend was the Russian chief design engineer who designed the real “Red October” submarine. Dad was in several industry associations and was president of many. Apart from these professional associations, he had an equal number if not greater friendships with the locals that he worked with and lived amongst. Dad accepted and welcomed anyone regardless of blood, color, creed, nationality. He saw everyone as equal. He respected others and their opinions.

He finally came home to Pierre Part in retirement, back to his family, home and Cajun roots but he never forgot his overseas experiences or the people he met. They were the stuff of his many stories.

Dad loved family. Nothing made him happier than having a full house, especially when it was full of kids, grandkids and great grandkids. He leaves behind 6 children, 16 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and he loved them all. Dad’s marriage to Liane expanded our family for the better. With 6 combined kids, we called ourselves “The Brady Bunch”. I always wanted a sister and a little brother. I have three sisters, so I lucked out!

The women in the family had a special place in his heart. Every year for several years we would have a family Mother’s Day brunch at various establishments in New Orleans where we celebrated the women in the family. It was something Dad always looked forward to and enjoyed family being around him. At the house, he had a huge dining table built to accommodate all the family the room could fit.

When there was a lot of family, on a Sunday morning he would make corasse for everyone.

Not content to sit back in retirement, he became involved in his community. He was a devout Catholic and lived his faith as an active parishioner of this church. He was a lector and a member of the choir, a member of the King's Men, and was in the Come Lord Jesus Group. In addition, he annually attended the Manresa House of Retreats. He was also a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, an order he had dedicated much of his adult life to.

Dad had a keen and lengthy interest in genealogy spending decades in research of the family ancestry amassing a considerable database. He traced his ancestry to the 16th century and was able to go further. If I understood him correctly, the ancestry had connections with king Charlemagne in the 9thth century. Dad pretty much knew just about anyone in Pierre Part and their relationships. He found a rich reservoir of local family genealogy there. This interest led him to found the Pierre Part Belle River Genealogical Society which is dedicated to continue its mission.

He was the Pierre Part board member of the Assumption Parish Library Board and a board member of the Pierre Part Belle River Museum. The museum was one of his pet projects. Dad had an acute interest in preserving our local history and the museum is a perfect vehicle to achieve this.

Latterly dad and I joined the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) an historical and genealogical society. Membership is granted to those who can prove a direct genealogical connection to persons who were connected with the Revolutionary War effort. As you can imagine, dad served our chapter as genealogist and registrar helping many with their genealogical research. He really savored the brotherhood and fellowship the society offered.

Dad had many hobbies and interests. He often said “I have more interests than I have days left to deal with them”. Some were conventional and some on the surface seemed bizarre (he has a paperclip collection). I have never seen this collection but when I quizzed him, he gave me this surprised look saying “do you realize how many different paperclips there are?”. He dabbled in wine making and growing a garden. He loved figs and picking blackberries. One of these hobbies he brought back with him from the UK. He had a keen interest in restoring vintage gasoline engines and displaying them to the public. We did that many times at local fairs there and showed at one of the church fairs here back in the 90’s. We often went metal detecting in Scotland finding mainly old coins which he added to his coin collection.

Dad had a keen sense of humor and was sharp as a tack with a reposte. He loved to show magic tricks to the grandkids and later the great grandkids. He had a practical joker side whether giving it out or receiving it. Back in the early days at McDermott dad and about five others would pile into someone’s VW beetle. One in the party was a non smoker and was strategically sat in the middle back seat. At some point along the levee, they would light up cigarettes, cigars, pipes with the windows up. Another common “trick” in the drafting room was to spike someone’s cigarette with eraser dust. He had fun with one of his buddies, the late RJ Gaudet. One day on the way to work, RJ dug around the glove compartment and found dad’s pistol. Being an inquisitive and fidgeting sort, RJ asked dad what kind of pistol it was. RJ then commences to rack the slide. Dad saw that and told RJ not to let go otherwise the gun would fire in the car. He had RJ hold that slide till they got to work. When we would build stuff, I always gave dad the “smart” end of the tape measure. I was more used to using metric having grown up in the UK. One day, I wound up with the smart end. When he asked me for the measurement, a couple minutes later after I counted all the lines and confirmed the small lines were sixteenths, I proclaimed “3 foot, 4 and six sixteenths”. Dad played with that “six sixteenths” for a few minutes. Then he said “don’t you mean three eights???” I responded if he wanted eighths he could have asked me to count the bigger lines. I didn’t immediately see the relevance but from then on I would provide bizarre fractions like seventy eight one hundred twenty sixths (78/126)” in future projects. From then on, dad got the smart end of the tape measure!

Dad would never pass up a good do-it-yourself project. He conducted several house rebuilds, camp renovations, and new shed and fence constructions employing his unique “character building” methods. None of us ever figured this out but these character building projects always seemed to occur in July or August. My first experience with dad’s character building was when I was a teen. He had my brother Dana and I repaint the exterior of the house in Scotland. This took over a significant portion of our summer “vacation”. He had us clean the brick and stucco by hand with wire brushes. We were spoiled when he got a forklift with a pallet to let us reach the high spots. When “payday” came, the gross salary was nice but after all the “taxes” he took out, it looked more like an allowance!

When things settled down and the projects became a thing of the past, dad could be found reading a good book, making his own peanut butter (he liked his peanuts dark roasted) or having a nice glass of wine and a cigar while on his porch swing with his beloved wife Liane. Anyone else was welcome to join in.

In closing, I want to thank you all again for joining with our family as we reminisce, celebrate and remember the life of a remarkable man and bereave his departure from us.

Bon voyage Pop et adieu Je t’aime toujours