From left, Harriet Mirick Finnegan, Jeremy Blanchet, Elizabeth Mirick TenEyck in Saranac Lake, August 1994. Courtesy of Sarah Blanchet. 
Undated, unidentified clipping in a scrapbook at the Saranac Lake Veteran's Club.
Jeremy Blanchet 
Believed to be Jeremy Blanchet and Nancy Connely in Saranac Lake. Nancy was Jeremy's girlfriend. Undated. 
Born: March 28, 1922
Parents: Dr. Sidney Blanchet and Mildred McMaster
Married: Nancy Hughes Hoag
Died: April 30, 2013
Children: Sarah, Martha (Meggy), Nickolas, Gar, and Sylvia.
When he was young, Jeremy Blanchet was a tray boy1 for the Trudeau Sanatorium. He also had a paper route (#20) for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise that ended near the top of Helen Hill. After his father Dr. Sidney Blanchet died in 1937, he and his mother went to live at Trudeau Sanatorium. He had fond memories of La Jeunesse, Pine Pond, and the island owned by the Mirick family. Pine Pond was turquoise with a sandy beach, and you could dive from the beach.
Albert Einstein rented a house in Saranac, possibly through the Lake Placid Club that belonged to a friend of the Blanchet family. Jeremy saw some calculations on the table at the house when Einstein was there, and said something like "I don’t like arithmetic." Einstein said, “I don’t either.” Apparently he thought it tedious.
He and seven other members of the Saranac Lake Boy Scouts organized a Sea Scout troop called the S.S. Bluebird,2 and he also ran the nature program at Camp Osgood.3 Jeremy saw Einstein out on a boat in the harbor, stuck. Perhaps he and his Sea Scout troop thought of going out to help Einstein.
Jeremy was a devout Catholic and a scholar; an oblate at St. Anselm's Abbey in Washington, D.C. and a phD Rhodes scholar at Oxford College in History 4. From his mother Mildred McMaster he inherited a love of art, music and poetry, both as an observer and as a creator. From Saranac he took away a love of long walks in the woods and skiing.
As a young man would paint lovely watercolors of landscapes, wrote poetry to woo his young bride, to express his religious devotion and to celebrate family occasions. Jeremy used his wonderful singing voice in his church choir and to lead Christmas carols in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. As a Navy aviator he especially enjoyed his time flying the "yellow peril" fabric biplane in training.
He worked many years as a Washington civil servant, where he hoped to apply his scholarship to the problems of disarmament. Working for the Department of State, he participated in one of the very first disarmament conferences, the Ten Nation Disarmament Committee in Geneva, Switzerland in April, 19605 From disarmament he moved on to racial desegregation in southeastern universities, still as a civil servant, this time for the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Ultimately he found civil service grey and unproductive. In 1969, a time of campus demonstrations and unrest, he left the civil service he became the assistant to the President of Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York.
As a consulting historian, he researched topics such as the effect of the atomic bomb tests on observers 6
Education:
About 1933 Baldwin School 1939 Saranac Lake High School 1943 Dartmouth College (B.A. with distinction in English Literature), Degree summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa; Rufus Choate Scholar; Edwin Perkins Literature Prize, 1942-1943. Also on the ski team.7 1948 Princeton University (M.A. History) 8 1953 New College, Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar (D Phil. History) Also on the ski team. Thesis advisor Vice Chancellor Lord Alan Bullock. Dissertation on the history of technical education in Britain. 9
Military: Trained as a US Navy aviator ensign 1943-1945. Trained to fly the PB4Y2- Privateer.
Professional:
- 1953-1965 US Department of State. Included work on tensions in the Middle East; evaluation of US assistance to Libya; designed the African databook; analyzed foreign reactions to US nuclear tests; worked on preparation for conferences with USSR nuclear experts; worked on verification and control of nuclear arms control agreements; analyzed risk of military use of Antarctica by a foreign goverment. 101112 Participated in the 1960 Ten Nation Disarmament Committee, Geneva; 13 researcher for disarmament.
- 1965-1967 Health Education and Welfare (HEW), in the newly formed US Office of Higher Education under Peter P. Muirhead. Putting into practice the Higher Education Act of 1965 for student aid and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for racial desegregation.
- 1967-1973 State University of New York at Stony Brook, Assistant to the President, under John S. Toll
- 1975-1992. Consulting Historian. 14151617
Ogdensburg Journal, January 25, 1933
Boys Rescue Two Companions In Icy Water of Lake Flower 
Bas relief made of Jeremy made by his mother, Mildred Blanchet
SINKS THROUGH ICE TUESDAY WITH BROTHER
People Watch Helpless From Shore as Youths Form Human Chain
Saranac Lake, Jan. 25—A thrilling rescue was staged on the thin ice covering Lake Flower at dusk Tuesday when six lads crawled on their stomachs to the edge of the channel into which two young skaters had fallen while men looked on helpless from the shore.
It was a double exhibition of heroism in which Jerry Blanchet, 10, son of Dr. and Mrs. Sidney F. Blanchet of Church street, went through the ice into the chill waters in an attempt to aid his brother, David, 13.
This photo appeared again with the caption "Lieut. Jeremy Blanchet of the Navy Air Corps, who has been honorably discharged from service. He entered the Navy in 1943, was commissioned at Pensacola, Fla., and was stationed at San Diego, Cal., when his release was effected."
Undated, unidentified clipping in a scrapbook at the Saranac Lake Veteran's Club.The boys had been skating alone on the lake near the bend when David went through the thin ice, more than 300 feet from shore.
When Jerry tried to extend a helping hand to his brother, he too was plunged into the icy water. Their screams were heard by a group of boys on the shore. With presence of mind the youths quickly grabbed planks, and ropes at a nearby garage and rushed to the aid of the lads in the freezing water.
Use Planks
As they neared the hole in the ice where the brothers frantically snatched at the edges for support, the young rescuers extended their six-foot plank over the treacherous ice to the hole.
Charles Keough, 16, taking the end of a heavy rope, crawled out first while the other lads formed a human chain behind him. Paul Duprey, 15, came next, and in line were Ben Cross, 14; Howard Stevens, Russell Hastings, 18, and Frank Hastings 21.
Both Blanchet boys took hold of the rope and were eased onto the ice. Meanwhile, volunteer firemen responded to the call. A ladder was pushed out onto the ice and the boys completed the rescue work.
The rescued boys, purple from their exposure of more than ten minutes, were rushed to their home in the automobile of one of the bystanders. They later were reported recovered.
Unmindful of their daring heroism, the young rescuers immediately returned to the things that had occupied their attention 15 minutes before.
Potsdam Courier-Freeman, February 1, 1933
RESCUE BOYS FROM LAKE
Firemen Get Lads With Ladder On Thin Ice
After being immersed in icy waters for 20 minutes while companions attempted their rescue, Jerry, 10, and David Blanchet, 13, sons of Dr. and Mrs. Sidney F. Blanchet, Saranac Lake, are none the worse for their experience.
The lads broke through the ice 30 feet off Gould's point on Lake Flower on their way home from a hockey practice with other members of the Glenwood hockey team and it was not until volunteer firemen with a hook and ladder truck responded that they were pulled safely to shore.
David was in the lead of his brother and had walked about 80 feet off the point when the ice cracked and gave way. Jerry, realizing his brother's plight, hastened to the rescue and approached the spot holding out his hockey stick for his brother to grab.
This device failed, however, when the ice again gave way and Jerry was plunged into the water. Meanwhile their hockey companions heard the shouts of the two boys and rushed to the scene. Charles Keough, 16, found a rope and crawled out first on the ice, holding on to Paul Duprey, 15. Behind Duprey, forming a human chain, were Ben Cross, 14; Howard Stevens, 18; Russell Hastings, 18 and Frank Hastings, 20. The rope experiment had little effect as the would-be rescuers were unable to get enough foothold on the ice to pull the pair ashore.
Encouragement was shouted to the two boys by their companions who informed them the fire department had been called.
Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Sept-Oct 2013
Jeremy Blanchet '43
Jeremy Blanchet ’43 died April 30 in Springfield, Oregon. Jerry graduated from Saranac (New York) High School, where he was a member of the dramatics club, worked on the school paper and enjoyed skiing. At Dartmouth he majored in English, skied, earned money by working at the Hanover Inn and graduated summa cum laude. He then became a pilot in the U.S. Navy, flying PB4Y-2-Privateers. When the war ended he received a M.A. from Princeton, followed by a Rhodes Scholarship at New College, Oxford University, where he earned his Ph.D.—along with classmate George Munroe. Returning to the States, he worked for the State Department on disarmament issues and was a member of the delegation to the Geneva Convention of 1960. He also went on a fact-finding mission to France and Libya. Later Jerry joined the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, where he was instrumental in drafting much of the Johnson era legislation that promoted the growth of community colleges and worked for desegregation. Jerry left government service in 1969 to become assistant to the president of Stony Brook University of New York. After retiring from Stony Brook Jerry became an independent historical consultant and studied the effects of U.S atomic tests on the observers. In 1999 he moved to Eugene, Oregon, to be near his daughter Megan and her family. Jerry converted to Catholicism in the 1960s. Jerry is survived by his children Garrett, Sylvia, Nicholas, Megan and Sarah and eight grandchildren.
Comments
Footnotes
1. private letter, Feb 5, 1950
2. The Record Post Au Sable Forks April 29, 1937
3. The Record Post Au Sable Forks June 30, 1936
4. Science, Craft and the State, a Study of English Technical Education and its Advocates, 1867-1906, Jeremy Blanchet, University of Oxford. Faculty of Modern History, 1953 http://www.worldcat.org/title/science-craft-and-the-state-a-study-of-english-technical-education-and-its-advocates-1867-1906/oclc/53266928 accessed May 3, 2013
5. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/united-states-dept-of-state-office-of-public-co/department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin/page-57-department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin.shtml Accessed May3,2013
6. Records of Prime Contracts Awarded by the Military Services and Agencies, created, 7/1/1975 - 9/30/2003, documenting the period 7/1/1975 - 9/30/2003 - Record Group 330 http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=186&mtch=2&cat=all&tf=F&q=Blanchet&bc=&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=96045&rlst=96045,96046 accessed May 2, 2013 and http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=186&mtch=2&cat=all&tf=F&q=Blanchet&bc=&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=96046&rlst=96045,96046
7. Statement of Credits, Dartmouth College, Jul 2, 1954
8. http://winscript.princeton.edu/mudd/Graduate_Alumni_Index.php?qname=graduate+alumni+index&LASTNAME=Blanchet&FIRSTNAME=Jeremy&CLASS=&department=&submit=Submit visited May 2, 2013
9. Science, Craft and the State, a Study of English Technical Education and its Advocates, 1867-1906, Jeremy Blanchet, University of Oxford. Faculty of Modern History, 1953
10. Jeremy Blanchet resume
11. United States Department of State Foreign relations of the United States, 1952-1954. The Near and Middle East (in two parts) (1952-1954) pg XIV http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=turn&entity=FRUS.FRUS195254v09p1.p0018&id=FRUS.FRUS195254v09p1&isize=M&q1=blanchet accessed May 3, 2013
12. Foreign Relations of the United States: 1958-1960 Nuclear Test Negotiations: http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v03/d235 accessed May 3, 2013
13. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/united-states-dept-of-state-office-of-public-co/department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin/page-57-department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin.shtml Accessed May 3, 2013
14. Education Program Specialist, Office of the US Commissioner of Education
15. 1978-1980 Consulting Historian, Defense Nuclear Agency
16. 1986-1987 Office of Public Affairs, US Highway Administration)]. [[Footnote(1987-1988 Consulting Research Historian Crosspaths Management Systems for Federal Energy Regulation Commission Self employed consulting historian. Records of Prime Contracts Awarded by the Military Services and Agencies, created, 7/1/1975 - 9/30/2003, documenting the period 7/1/1975 - 9/30/2003 - Record Group 330 http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=186&mtch=2&cat=all&tf=F&q=Blanchet&bc=&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=96045&rlst=96045,96046 accessed May 2, 2013 and http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=186&mtch=2&cat=all&tf=F&q=Blanchet&bc=&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=96046&rlst=96045,96046
17. 1989 - 1992 Special Assistant, Senior Environmental Employment Program
