Obituary for Ernesto Enrique Joaquin Blanco

Life Story for Ernesto Enrique Joaquin Blanco

Dad
I have an impossible task of capturing the life of a man in a few short words and he was no ordinary man.

When I think of my Dad, a giant comes to mind. A giant intellect, a giant heart, a giant sense of responsibility and a giant love. His calling was to design machines and solve engineering riddles which perplexed lesser minds. Growing up, I had some awareness that my Dad was a bit unusual compared to other Dad’s. He didn’t occupy his mind with the mundane but was instead always preoccupied with addressing issues that seemed several levels above those that concerned others. For a time we were all blessed in the presence of greatness and yet that greatness would not have reached its full potential without the presence of my mother because she was his muse.

I can’t really speak about my Dad without mentioning my Mom. My parents were married for over 54 years. They were an unlikely pair but God doesn’t make mistakes. Despite outward differences they complimented each other as we'll as any two people from disparate backgrounds can. As a couple they provided us with a powerful example of a loving, sacrificial marriage. Together they formed a wonderful couple-my Dad ever the engineer and professor with his head perpetually in the clouds with my mother always by his side with her feet firmly planted on the ground. She made sure that he had the freedom to conceptualize, design and build his many inventions that resulted in hundreds of patents while he provided her with security and love.

Rarely do we have the privilege of knowing someone who recognizes those special gifts that we each are given by God and who uses those gifts to assist others and improve society. More often we encounter people who either fail to recognize their God given gifts or chose to use those gifts selfishly. In those rare cases when a person such as my Dad uses his gifts for God’s glory, the results are far reaching and of great impact. In Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Dad had the saying “Creativity, a divine gift to the world” printed on his business cards in order to bear witness to our Lord’s work through his life. My Dad challenged each of us by his example to recognize and use our talents for good.

I don’t want to say goodbye because I know that our separation is only for a time and then we will be reunited once again in the presence of our Lord. So, I will only say that we love you and miss you very much. Thank you for the Godly example of your life.