Mrs. Jean Blanchette died at home this past Saturday, August 21, 2021 surrounded by her family.

Jean was born on August 30, 1936 to Lacy and Bessie Arnold in Sugar Lands, West Virginia. Her parents owned a farm in a very rural part of the state and her early years were spent growing up as a part of a family that grew crops, raised livestock and had family members that worked as coal miners to help make ends meet. She would tell stories about attending classes in one room school, her sister sewing their clothing, feeding the chickens, riding one of the families' two horses, helping weed the garden and anything you would imagine a small child might do to help on farm.

Following the death of her mother when she was just nine years old, Jean moved to Massachusetts in 1946 with her sister, Elma, to live with their older sister and brother-in-law.  This was a much different environment than rural West Virginia and Jean would spend her more formative years attending a new larger school, making new friends, helping her older sister by babysitting her cousins and developing a very close bond with her sister, Elma.   It was there she grew to love the Boston Red Sox and it was not uncommon for her and her girlfriends to travel to Boston or New York to see a game.

After graduating, Jean was proud to be part of the support team at Raytheon that worked on developing microwave technology that helped create the microwave oven that we use today. It was while at Raytheon that she met her future husband, Raymond. They would fall in love and be married on September 2, 1961 and would stay together for 58 years until Ray's passing in 2019. Their marriage resulted in the birth of four children: Eric, Linda, Michael and Richard and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In 1976, she moved to Minneola, FL with her family. She and her husband purchased a local family restaurant called The Village Inn.  She and Ray successfully ran this business until they retired.

The Village Inn was the place in the area where local Florida Gator fans would gather on gameday to cheer on their team. Her love of sports quickly spilled over to her being a huge Florida Gator fan. She and Ray had Gator season tickets and they would travel to Gainesville in their RV with friends to attend home games every chance they had each fall. Once the regular season ended, they could be found on the road traveling to any bowl games that the University of Florida participated in including a few national championship games.

Jean had a love of reading mystery and romance novels, doing all sorts of crossword and jigsaw puzzles and cooking special treats at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthday celebrations that were what she called the recipient's favorite meal/dessert. She was always involved in community events helping her husband to form the South Lake Moose Lodge and the local Women of the Moose, serving in many roles with the organization.

The family would like to thank Jean's caregivers including her daughter Linda, Linda's husband, Bill and all the doctors and nurses that treated her over the years especially the wonderful people at Compassionate Care Hospice of Lake and Sumter Inc. Each of you made her quality of life the best it could be during her time of need and we commend all of you.

Friends and family will miss her so much and she will never be forgotten.

In lieu of flowers, we invite you to make a difference by donating to the Compassionate Care Hospice of Lake and Sumter Inc.  900 Main St Ste 208, The Villages, Florida, 32159 or the Hospice Foundation of America at https://hospicefoundation.org/Donate