Mr. John Blanock, age 87, passed away at his home in Oxford, Michigan, on February 18, 2005. John, had been in declining health for sometime, but up until last year he never missed the Southern Michigan Field Trial.
He walked in the gallery, oversaw the proceedings and supervised his crew of loyal and enthusiastic local workers. He was the heart, soul and backbone, as well as the President of the Southern Michigan Springer Spaniel Training Club for decades.
Capturing the essence of John’s life is so difficult because he was multifaceted, with many varied interests and immense integrity. Many people have trained more dogs, won more trials and made more champions, but none bested him for sportsmanship, enthusiasm and devotion to the dogs and the sport.
His career in spaniels spanned more than 50 years, and he owned and trained several Champions. In 1962 he judged the National Open Championship, which was won by the famous Kansan. The following year, at the 1963 National Open Championship, John and his dog Meadowcourt Daniel were awarded the trophy for best dog handled by an amateur.
The essence of John’s generosity and love for the Spaniel sport was demonstrated by his willingness to open up his farm for regular Sunday morning training sessions for a period of over 25 years. At these sessions, everyone with a spaniel interest was welcome, be it old-friend, newcomer or complete stranger. Those of us who trained there used to love to sit around after the session and pry delightfully entertaining historical stories, opinions and memories from John’s vast knowledge of the sport, its characters, and the dogs.
His working career was as spent as a devoted Music Director and Social Studies teacher in the Highland Park Michigan School System (38 years). Though always reticent to talk about himself, he was bit of a renaissance man. He was educated at Northwestern University, a decorated First Lieutenant in WWII, fluent in several languages, an avid gardener and horticulturist, an accomplished musician who had played Oboe with several symphony orchestras, and a very widely traveled man.
John and wife Jessie knew how to quietly enjoy many of the finer things in life. Mrs. Jessie Blanock, also a fixture at trials for decades, passed away in 1999. The Blanock’s raised 4 daughters, all very talented siblings hold the unique distinction of attending the University of Chicago as a group to earn their masters degrees the same year. Mr. Blanock is survived by 4 daughters, 6 grandchildren, a sister and a sister-in-law Ginks (Eugenia Hass). Ginks lived with the Blanocks for decades.
We all learned so much from John Blanock, especially lessons in class, decorum and integrity. Mr. John Blanock will be sorely missed by his many friends in Spaniels, especially those of us who were lucky enough to know him well.
