Robert Blanchard

Robert "Bob" Blanchard

March 27, 1948 - October 17, 2025

Robert Arthur "Bob" Blanchard spent most of his life surrounded by engines, salt, air and family. A lifelong marine mechanic and businessman, he found peace in the rhythm of the tides and pride in a job done right.

Bob was born on March 27, 1948, in Antrim, New Hampshire, the son of Robert Lydston Blanchard and Eunice (Watt) Blanchard. He was preceded in death by his brother, George Gordon Blanchard and survived by his younger brother, David Lydston Blanchard and wife, Linda, of Bennington, New Hampshire, and his younger sister, Elizabeth Dillinger and her husband, Charles, of Canada.

Bob attended a two-year college program to study engine service and maintenance. He moved from New Hampshire to South Bristol, Maine in 1970, where his family had owned property in Christmas Cove for multiple generations. He eventually settled in South Bristol, where he created a small farm on Rutherford Island and raised two children.

He first married Sharon Ann Courser, with whom he raised Robert H. Blanchard, of Bristol, and Kathryn A. (Blanchard) Young, of South Bristol. Through life's paths sometimes led them to live at a distance, he took quiet pride in the lives they built and the families that followed.

Years later, Bob found enduring companionship and marriage with his beloved Marilyn Louise Blanchard, with whom he shared over 30 years of laughter, hard work, and deep friendship. Through this marriage, he welcomed three new daughters, Susan J (Baker) Christianson of Patten Maine, Jennifer M (Baker) Brackett of Chugiak Alaska, and Ruth A (Baker) Reynolds of Chesapeake Virginia. They had formed close and lasting bonds through their families and grandchildren.

Bob loved growing up on the family farm in New Hampshire, where he and his brothers worked in the meat packing plant - a sturdy stone barn they built together as a family. That early foundation of grit and craftsmanship carried throughout his life, and his proficiency with stonework was evident in his house on Middle Road as well as the home he later built in Christmas Cove, where he and Mary spent many happy years.

A tireless worker and natural problem solver, Bob began his professional life with DiPetro-Kay Corporation, A Volvo marine service business. Starting as an employee and later becoming a branch manager, he eventually established his own branch of the company out of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, in a large garage he built himself near his home farm in South Bristol. Later, the business expended into the Batma Building on Bristol Road.

After decades of dedication to his craft, he retired onto the deck of his lobster boat, Sea Smoke, where he found his favorite kind of peace-steady work, sea spray, and quiet mornings. In his later years, He and Marilyn settled in LaBelle, Florida for many years before moving back to Maine to be closer to their daughter, Jennifer in Bangor, Maine.

Bob was immensely proud of his growing family and the generations that followed. He leaves behind 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews who will remember his humor, his stubborn streak, and his knack for fixing just about anything with a wrench and a bit of Maine ingenuity. He also leaves behind an abundance of friends and cousins who will remember him building traditional Maine clambakes in seaweed on the shores of the coast over an open fire.

A gathering will be held graveside at noon on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, as he is laid to rest in West Bristol Cemetery, Walpole, beside his parents and wife.

May the family be anchored now in calm waters. Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.