Doris M. Blanchard

ATHOL - Doris Blanchard passed away on June 23, 2017, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at the age of 99 and 9 months. She was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, on September 9, 1917, the fourth of eight children of Charles H. Pervier and Bertha Bragg Pervier. She grew up in East Templeton, MA, and graduated from Templeton High School in 1935, then located in Baldwinsville. A graduate of Wilfred Beauty Academy in Boston, she owned and operated Dorrie’s Beauty Shop in Athol and also owned and managed three apartment houses. Doris was a member of the Starrett Memorial United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Women, the AARP, and was especially active in the Athol Quota Club. She and Doris Benson did the Quota’s mitten tree project collecting handmade mittens for children and delivering Christmas gifts to the elderly for over 40 years. She was enthusiastic about home decorating and buying and selling houses. For many years she had the care of her mother in her home, and later, the care of her older sister Marjorie. She was predeceased by her husband, Alban J. Blanchard, who died in 1982, four brothers, C. Lincoln Pervier, Robert Pervier, Ernest Pervier, and Richard Pervier, and by two sisters, Marjorie Pervier Cawthorne, and Shirley Pervier Swedberg of Westminster, MA, who passed away in July of this year. She leaves behind one sister, Norma Pervier Young, of Gardner, MA; one daughter, Barbara Blanchard Hong and son-in-law Yat Lam Hong of Kalamazoo, Michigan; and three granddaughters, Jean Lin of London, England, Sarah Hong Soto of Tucson, Arizona, and Martha Hong Sidhu of Ann Arbor, Michigan. A memorial service will be held at the Starrett Memorial United Methodist Church in Athol, MA, on Saturday, August 26, at 11 a.m., followed by a lunch in the church fellowship hall, and a later private graveside service at Silver lake Cemetery. To leave an online condolence please visit www.mackfamilyfh.com. Arrangements are in the care of Higgins-O’Connor Funeral Home, 146 Main Street, Athol.