Janice S. Blanchard, 80 years old, passed away on Feb. 14, 2023 in a local hospice care facility surrounded by her family. She was born on Aug. 16, 1942 to Nick and Enora Hymel Scardina in Baton Rouge, La. She was a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge, and attended Our Lady of the Lake Nursing School. She graduated from Baton Rouge Draughon Business College. She then became employed by Exxon of Baton Rouge, and later sold real estate for Hudman Homes of Baton Rouge. After moving to Lake Charles, she worked with her husband in the family business for 14 years, and she was a Louisiana Notary Public.
She was a past Treasurer and President of the Lake Charles Country Club Ladies Auxiliary. She was a member of Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, where she taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and was in the Charismatic Renewal. She was a Lector and a Eucharistic Minister to assisted living facilities and the homebound. She was a member of the Lay Carmelite St. Therese of the Little Flower Community in Lake Charles.
She loved being with family and entertaining. Her hobbies were gardening and music. She traveled extensively during her lifetime, to places including Europe, the West Indies, Mexico, the Bahamas and across the United States.
Those left to cherish her memory are her husband of 62 years, Ray Blanchard Sr; four children, Ray “Jim” Blanchard Jr. (Andrea), Dawn Holtzman (David), Kim Benoit (Brian), and Tara Hewitt (Jeff); ten grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and one sister, Nita Fogg of Palm Beach, Fla., whom she loved dearly. She was preceded in death by her parents.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb.18, 2023 at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church. Msgr. James Gaddy will serve as Celebrant. Burial will follow in Consolata Cemetery under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home of Lake Charles. Visitation will be held at Johnson Funeral Home on Saturday from 9 a.m. until leaving in procession to the church at 12:30, with a rosary being recited at 12 Noon.
The family would like to give special thanks to the wonderful nurses and staff of Harbor Hospice.
Words of comfort to the family may be expressed at www.johnsonfuneralhome.net.