Marie Blanchard papers

Marie Blanchard was born in Minidoka, Idaho and graduated from Rupert Highschool in 1942. She studied for a nursing degree at Denver General Hospital and the University of Washington before accepting a job at Pan-American World Airways as a stewardess. She married Frank Blanchard in March 1950. They lived in Seattle and Everett, Washington for almost ten years before moving to Boise, Idaho where they raised three children.

Through her connections at St. Michael’s Episcopal Cathedral, Marie became acquainted with the Boise Little Theatre and Boise Music Week. Her first part was in the 1964 Boise Music Week production of My Fair Lady. She began auditioning for plays at the Boise Little Theatre and after becoming president, introduced musicals to the performance lineup. Marie met Hazel Weston, the founder of the Boise Civic Opera, and became involved in that organization along with Gordon Eichmann, Esther Simplot, and Vaughn and Polly Price who she was working alongside at the Boise Little Theatre.

In addition to her work helping build and expand Boise’s performing arts organizations, Marie founded The Friendship Clinic in 2003. After lobbying the help of nursing students from Boise State University to conduct neighborhood surveys she recognized the need for a free clinic to provide health care services to the Boise Bench community. Marie retired from her position as Executive Director in 2016; the clinic continues to expand and was renamed The Marie Blanchard Friendship Clinic in Fall 2016.