NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — In a celebration of life at the New Hope Church of God in Christ in Norfolk, Superintendent William Haywood Blanchard was laid to rest at 106 years old. From the pulpit, he was remembered.
“106 years — 1,272 months; 106 years — 5,330 weeks; 106 years — 38,700 days. 106 years, God lent this man to us — 929,177,000 hours. 106 years — 55,751,760 minutes. God gave him to us.”
Influenced by his grandfather at an early age, Blanchard learned the values of hard work, integrity, stewardship and responsibility while helping tend to his family farm. Those lessons became the foundation that influenced others for over 100 years…