William J. Blanchard

  Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m. on Thursday at the Fox Funeral Home, officiated by Rev. Edward P. Noga for Atty. William J. Blanchard, 66 of Boardman who passed away Thursday afternoon surrounded by his family.  William was born May 25, 1951 in Lackawanna, New York, a son of the late Gerald H. and Mary I. Smith Blanchard.  Bill was a 1969 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High. He received his Bachelor of Science in law enforcement administration from Youngstown State University in 1974. In 1996 he received his juris doctorate degree from University of Akron School of Law.   He started his career as a patrolman for Poland Village and Boardman Police Departments.   In 1975, he joined the Youngstown Police Department as a patrolman and rose through the ranks to become the last “ True Blue “ detective in the departments’ history, prior to the detective and sergent rank being combined in the late 80’s. Bill was also the department’s fiscal officer for 13 years. While with the department, Bill was President of the Youngstown Police Department Officers’ Union during which time he was instrumental in establishment of the Youngstown Police Association.  He was also actively involved in the community, serving as the President of the Board of Trustees of the Addiction Programs of Mahoning County from 1993 to 1995 and was a board member of the Mahoning County ADAS Board from 1999 through 2003. After his retirement from the Youngstown Police Department in 2011, he went into private law practice downtown. Bill stayed active in the law enforcement community, maintaining a deputy commisiion with the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department and was a member of the and the  Fraternal Order of Police # 28.   In his younger years Bill was a member of the Air Force Reserve and Army National Guard.   He leaves to cherish his memory, his daughter Jennifer Blanchard, sisters Sherry (David) Riffer in Ohio, Karen Roberts of Missouri and his beloved Scotties. Besides his parents, Bill is preceded in death by his former wife Mary Jo Blanchard. Friends and family may call from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Fox Funeral Home, Boardman and again at the funeral home on Thursday.

William’s true hobby in life was helping others. His family requests that material tributes be made to the charity of their choice in William’s name.

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