Elizabeth “Beckey” (Field) Blanchard, 88, of Worcester, formerly of Holden, Dade City, FL, and Barre died peacefully on Friday, December 24th, 2010 in Dodge Park Rest Home, after a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Beckey, daughter of the late Arthur L. and Amanda (Farrand) Field, was born in Hebron, ME on April 21, 1922. Her beloved husband, Leon Hartwell Blanchard, Jr. died in June of 2009. She is survived by her four children: Arthur Blanchard of Barre, Bruce Blanchard and his wife, Irene, of Holden, Dorothy Blanchard and her husband Michael Piazza of Contoocook, NH, and Ann Blanchard and her husband, David Edelstein, of North Berwick, ME; her four grand daughters: Faye Pinzón, Erin Fater, Molly Edelstein, and Allie Jane Piazza; and two great-grandchildren: Andrés and Amelia Pinzón. She also leaves a brother, Richard Field of Miami, FL; and a sister, Rachel Yazinka, of Wolfeboro, NH. She was predeceased by her brother, Frederick Field.
Beckey was a graduate of Gould Academy in Bethel, ME, where she met Leon, her husband of 61 years. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Colby College in Waterville, ME. During the war years, she obtained a Bachelor of Sciences in Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. After working for Pratt Whitney in the Hartford area, she attended the Yale School of Nursing where she received a Masters degree.
Marrying Leon in 1947, they moved to Holden where she turned her energies to raising their four children. She became, and remained, an active member of Central (now United) Congregational Church in Worcester. As the children grew, she returned to work, teaching nursing at David Hale Fanning Trade School and Memorial Hospital in Worcester as well as Wachusett Regional High School in Holden.
At an age when most (her husband included) begin thinking of retirement, Beckey enrolled in the Andover Newton Theological School where she earned a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ. She served as a Chaplin at the East Pasco Medical Center in Zephyrhills, FL for many years.
Slowly but relentlessly robbed, by Alzheimer’s Disease, of her memory, she continued to instruct the staff at Dodge Park in the art of nursing care and ministered to the needs of her fellow residents. Her family is grateful to the staff at Dodge Park Rest Home and UMass Memorial Hospice for keeping her comfortable and at peace with the world.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service at 1:00 PM on Saturday, January 15, with a reception to follow at United Congregational Church, 6 Institute Road, in Worcester.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Beckey’s memory should be sent to Heifer International, Attn: Donor Services, PO Box 8058, Little Rock, AR 72203 or on the web at
Published in Worcester Telegram & Gazette on January 2, 2011
