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Richard Blanchard ~ Across Time |
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Far Away Bath ~
Richard taking a bath on the family's porch in Chung King, China, where his parents were missionaries. |
High School Days ~
Playing in a dance band and enjoying life with his wonderful sense of humor, Dick was a popular student in Wolcottville, IN |
World War II ~
After a year in Davidson College, Dick felt compelled to enlist in the U.S. Navy to do his part for his country. It was a solemn decision. His health prevented him from having a long service, and he entered Mercer University with plans to go into the ministry. |
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Young Pastor At Work ~
Dick's first church of his own in Florida was Wesley Methodist Church in Coral Gables. Here he preached twice every Sunday, led the singing with his trombone and wrote music for the gospel quartet which he started. Eventually he was asked by the Miami Council of Churches to host a religious television program on Channel 7, the first religious program in Miami. |
His Sense of Humor and His Black Hair ~
Dick's constant puns and jokes lasted until the end of his life, and so did his famous black hair. Even in the post-World War II days, he kept his hair long and slicked back, when everyone else had crew cuts. And his hair, black like his mother's, stayed black until the day he died. |
Sharing The Happy Memories Of A Great Life ~
Dick reminisces about the memories he shares with a member of one of his churches. |
"The year is 1925 and a young American woman is giving birth to a child. This birth is different in that this child is being born to medical missionaries in Chung-King, China, and before he reaches the age of fifty, he is to touch the lives of millions for God. His name is Richard Blanchard.
...As Richard, the child, grew, he became tremendously interested in music, namely the trombone. The late great Homer Rodeheaver, because he was a friend of the boy's parents, made a fifty-dollar down payment on such a horn.. The boy continued to make payments on it with revenue from a paper route.
...'Fill My Cup, Lord' was first introduced to Bill Mann after a revival meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in a layman's home. Blanchard played for him to sing it. Two years went by and finally Mann recorded it on the Word Record label, and from that time, in 1964, it has soared. More than one hundred million copies of sheet music have been sold.
...In one of the largest concert halls in England, Bill Mann was singing for a large crusade when someone approached him before a service and said, 'The Prime Minister's wife, Mrs. Harold Wilson, would like to make a request. Would you sing a song for her?' Mann quickly agreed to do so. Her request was for 'Fill My Cup, Lord.'"
- Lindsey Terry - "The Ministry of Church Music" - June 24, 1988
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