Etta I. Blanchard, 93, of Bay City went to meet her beloved husband sixteen years to the day of his death, December 8, 2008. She was born August 28, 1915 in Mound, Texas to the late Walter and Ollie McHargue Parks. She was a longtime resident of Bay City and a member of the First Baptist Church of Van Vleck.

Her husband Ira Blanchard preceded her in death in 1992. Survivors include daughters Carole Brannon & husband J. C. of Pearland and Margaret Slone & husband David of Bay City; son Ira Blanchard, Jr. & wife Tina of Clanton, AL; sister Margaret Estes of San Antonio; grandchildren Terri Holman & husband Mike, Jimmy Carl Brannon III, Melissa Troell & husband Henry, Jason Eric Slone & wife Kristen and Nathan Blanchard and great grandchildren Zachary, Alyssa & Jenna Grace Troell and Thomas Scheltema.

The family will receive friends and relatives from 5 to 7pm Wednesday at the funeral home. Funeral service will be 2:00 PM Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008 at Taylor Bros. Funeral Chapel with Dr. Mike Zimmerman & Ira Blanchard, Jr. officiating. Interment will follow at Roselawn Memorial Park in Van Vleck. Pallbearers will be David Slone, J. C. Brannon, Henry Troell, Jim Brannon, Bill Johnson & Bob Ellis. Jason Eric Slone, Mike Holman, Clarence Jenkins and Mike Pruett will be honorary pallbearers. Memorials may be made in honor of Ira & Etta Blanchard to the First Baptist Church of Van Vleck Building Fund.