Barbara Marie Blanchard's Obituary
Barbara Marie (Cook) Blanchard died peacefully at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on Thursday morning June 19, 2025, after a short illness. Born November 2, 1938, in Spring Lake, MI to Chester and Barbara Lillian (Moffatt) Cook, she graduated from Grand Haven High School in 1956 and then attended Aquinas St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Grand Rapids. In 1958 she was licensed as an LPN.
Barbara worked at the North Ottawa Hospital and Shore Haven Nursing Facility in Grand Haven before moving to Manistee in 1975 where she worked at the Manistee Medical Care Facility and later Manistee Heights Care Center, from where she retired in 2004.
In 1960, Barbara Cook married Franklin Wayne Blanchard, who predeceased her in 1984. Barbara was the matriarch of a large family as together they had eight children: Lori Lynn Blanchard of Manistee and her two sons Kurtis Pieczynski and Nathan Pieczynski; Michael Wayne (Carla) Blanchard of Riverview, FL and Manistee and their children Michael Jr. and Melody; Infant twin daughters MaryAnn and MaryLou (both died at birth); Susan Kay (John Witucki) Davis of Manistee and her children Corey Davis and Kaylee Davis; Christine Marie (Robert) Eipperle of Kaleva and their children Amy Catanese, Sarah Debano, and Gerald R. Eipperle; Patrick Dennis Blanchard (deceased 2016) and his daughters Rachel Blanchard and Randee Blanchard; and, Brian Keith (Lynne) Blanchard of Spring Lake and their sons Trenton Blanchard and Nicholas Blanchard. She is also survived by sixteen great-grandchildren; brothers Chester Albert Cook and Charles Cook both of Grand Haven, and Darrell (Nancy) Cook of Holland; and very close family friends Pauline and Tim Fortier of Arizona, who called Barbara “Mom B.”
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, June 27, 2025, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spring Lake, the church of her youth where her mother was a longtime organist. Friends may meet the family from 5 – 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, at The Spring Lake Chapel of Sytsema Funeral & Cremation Services, 213 E. Savidge St., Spring Lake, MI 49456 and an hour prior to the Mass at church.
Memorials in her name may be directed to St Jude Children’s Hospital or a preferred charity. Arrangements are being provided by the Spring Lake Chapel of Sytsema Funeral & Cremation Services. Share memories with the family at their online guest book at https://www.sytsemafh.com.
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