Legacy Award
The Legacy Award is awarded annually to an individual or group who has shown a dedication, commitment, and contribution to the mission of Centralia College.
2023 Legacy Award
The first recipient of the Centralia College Foundation’s new Legacy Award is alumnus Dave Blanchard, a decorated Vietnam veteran and educator. Blanchard passed away on Sept. 29, 2022, and was a lifetime supporter of Centralia College and its students.
Blanchard was born and raised in Centralia. He was a star athlete at Centralia High School, where he was elected president of the student body in 1960-61, a position his father held 25 years earlier. In 1963, he graduated from Centralia College, where he was also elected student body president.
After graduation, he received a Congressional appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He graduated in 1967 with a degree in engineering and accepted a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army. In 1968, he was deployed to Vietnam, where he earned two Purple Hearts (twice wounded in combat), two Bronze Stars for heroism and acts of valor in armed combat, and a Valorous Unit Award.
After retirement from active Army service, Blanchard earned his doctorate and served
as the dean of graduate students at Hofstra University in New York. Later, he taught
as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University. Though he never lived in Centralia
again, he maintained tight connections to the community and established and supported
a scholarship at Centralia College in the name of the Class of 1963.
Before his death, Blanchard wrote about the impact CC had on his life.
“Centralia is one of the major highlights of my life and I know for a fact that if I had not attended this great community college, I would not have made it through my first year at West Point,” he wrote in 2009. “In my long career, both in the military and in higher education, when the opportunity arose, I firmly stated that my two-year college education prepared me for the rest of my life.”
Blanchard’s contributions was formally recognized at the Centralia College Foundation’s Night of Celebration on June 15, 2023.
Legacy Award Nominations
The Centralia College Foundation is currently seeking nominations for its Legacy Award. It is awarded annually to an individual or group who has shown dedication, commitment, and contribution to the mission of Centralia College. The recipients are not required to be Centralia College alumni and the Legacy Award may be given posthumously.
CONTACT THE FOUNDATION
Centralia College Foundation
600 Centralia College Blvd
Centralia, WA 98531-4099
360-623-8942
ccfoundation@centralia.edu