Roger Blanchard Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific Prefix:The Right Reverend
Roger Wilson Blanchard
V Bishop of Southern Ohio
Church:Episcopal Church
Diocese:Southern Ohio
Elected:1958
Term:1959–1970
Retired:-->
Predecessor:Henry Hobson
Successor:John McGill Krumm
Ordination:March 1937
Ordained By:Henry Knox Sherrill
Consecration:November 11, 1958
Consecrated By:Henry Knox Sherrill
Birth Date:11 September 1909
Parents:Charles Francis Blanchard, Grace Wilson
Previous Post:Coadjutor Bishop of Southern Ohio (1958-1959)
Education:Episcopal Theological School

Roger Wilson Blanchard (September 11, 1909 - February 17, 1998) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. He was the church's Bishop of Southern Ohio from 1959 to 1970.

Early life and education

Blanchard was born on September 11, 1909, in Brockton, Massachusetts, the son of Charles Francis Blanchard and Grace Wilson. He was educated in the public schools of Brockton, and then at Boston University, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1932. He then enrolled at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and earned a Bachelor of Divinity in 1936. Blanchard married Patricia Alice Goodwillie on June 11, 1936, and together had three children. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity by Lake Erie College and Kenyon College, respectively, in 1958.[1]

Ordained ministry

Blanchard was ordained deacon in June, 1936, and priest in March 1937 by Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill of Massachusetts.[2] He served as curate at St Stephen's Church in Lynn, Massachusetts, from 1936 to 1938, and then as rector of St Peter's Church in Beverly, Massachusetts, from 1938 to 1943.[3] In 1943, he became rector of Calvary Church in Columbia, Missouri, while in 1949, he became the executive secretary of the Division of College Work for the national church. In 1956, he became Dean of St John's Cathedral in Jacksonville, Florida, retaining the post till 1958.[4]

Bishop

In 1958, Blanchard was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Southern Ohio and was consecrated at Christ Church, Cincinnati, on November 11, 1958, by the presiding bishop, Henry Knox Sherrill.[5] He then succeeded as diocesan bishop in May 1959 and remained so until his retirement in 1970. He then served as an assisting bishop in the Diocese of Massachusetts.

Blanchard died on February 17, 1998, following a long illness.[6]

Notes and References

  1. 1977 . BLANCHARD, ROGER WILSON. Who's Who in the East . 16. 73.
  2. 1953 . BLANCHARD, Roger Wilson. Stowe's Clerical Directory of the American Episcopal Church . 35.
  3. 1975 . BLANCHARD, ROGER WILSON. Who's Who in Religion . 1. 54.
  4. 1963 . BLANCHARD, Roger Wilson. Who's Who in United States Politics and American Political Almanac . 87.
  5. 23 November 1958. Southern Ohio Consecration. . 137. 8.
  6. https://episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/the_living_church/TLCarticle.pl?volume=216&issue=11&article_id=12 "Bishop Blanchard Dies"