Patrick A. Blanchard, Jr.

Master Officer Patrick A. Blanchard, Jr., 37, Minot, ND, passed away Thursday, December 29, 2022, near Towner, ND.

Patrick Allen Blanchard, Jr., was born September 29, 1985, to Patrick, Sr. and Terry Dillard in Des Moines, Iowa. He was raised in Pacific Junction, IA and graduated high school from Glenwood Community High School in May of 2004.

Following graduation, Patrick joined the United States Army. He completed basic training at Ft. Benning, GA and was stationed at Ft. Campbell, Ky. He married his high school sweetheart, Tia Beck-Sweat, in May of 2005. They were married for 15 years.

Patrick served with Bravo Company 2nd Battalion 506th Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division where his comrades became his Currahee brothers. Patrick was trained in Air Assault and was a part of one of the first waves of soldiers to enter Bagdad, Iraq during the Operation Iraqi Freedom war. He was deployed from November 2006-November 2007. His first son was born while he was deployed and they were able to meet for the first time when Liam was 4 months old. Liam later passed of brain cancer, and his daughter was born one month later. Patrick was then deployed to Afghanistan in June of 2008-November 2009, serving a 16-month deployment in the War in Afghanistan. He was honorably discharged in March 2010.

As a civilian, Patrick worked in Washington, DC, with a top-secret security clearance doing underground construction. After the birth of his third child, he relocated to Minot to pursue the oilfield with his brother-in-law. He then became a police officer in 2017.

Outside of work, he enjoyed watching movies, going to the gym, golfing, being with friends, and most of all, time with his children, Zoey and Seth.

Patrick is survived by: paternal grandparents, Gene Blanchard, Spencer, IA, and Marvel Blanchard, Spencer, IA; parents, Patrick, Sr., and Terry Dillard, Pacific Junction, IA; sister, Teyana Blanchard; niece, Shyloh Leeym, Glenwood, IA; half-sister, Amanda and her family, Hawaii; children, Zoey (14) and Seth (11) and their mother, Tia Blanchard, Minot, ND; longtime girlfriend, Keyona Walker; as well as many amazing aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Patrick is preceded in death by an infant son, Liam Patrick; nephew, Marshall Patrick; half brother, Nick Blanchard; cousin, Ross Blanchard; and his maternal grandparents, Bob and Helen Dillard.

Funeral: Friday, January 6, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. at the Minot State University Dome. We would like to ask the public to park in the north MSU Dome parking lot. Concluding the service, there will be a first responder procession escorting Officer Blanchard back to Thompson-Larson Funeral Home. If you wish to pay your respects to Officer Blanchard, please see the Minot Police Department's Facebook post that shows the map for the travel route. 

The funeral service will be livestreamed on the Minot Police Department Facebook page.

Private Family Interment: Waubonsie Cemetery, Mills County, IA.

Visitation: Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

In lieu of flowers and plants, memorials are preferred to the Patrick Blanchard Memorial Fund at Town and Country Credit Union in Minot. Tia set this up for his two children.