Pastor, Professor, and World War II Survivor Dr. Jack Blanco Dies
20 January 2025 |
On January 11, 2025, Dr. Jack Blanco, former Dean of the School of Religion and Professor Emeritus at Southern Adventist University (SAU) in Collegedale, Tennessee, died peacefully in his sleep. Blanco led a successful career in pastoral ministry, mission service, teaching, and academic administration at Columbia Adventist University, editorial work at the Review and Herald, and 18 years at SAU before retiring in 2000, yet remained an adjunct professor until 2010.
Blanco was more than an academic or pastor. He was also a World War II survivor. As the only child of a single unmarried immigrant mother, 10-year-old Blanco visited his grandparents in Germany, was trapped by the war, and was required to enroll in Hitler Youth for elementary school. In his application to attend high school, he shared the fact of his American citizenship, leading him to be taken to a slave labor camp at 14 after being told he would be attending school. He was then sent to three different camps in three years, escaping twice before convincing U.S. troops that he was an American.
In an interview with a Southern student, he remembers the joy he felt seeing the Statue of Liberty after seven years away from home, “Oh my word, I’m home free, I’m home free, I’m home free—no more guard dogs, no more soldiers, no more shooting, killing, beating, whatever. Let me tell you something, nobody appreciates freedom until they don’t have it….I was ready to kiss the ground home free. ”
Three years later he would be drafted into the Korean War, where he joined the Air Force and worked in communications. He felt deep pride in his work and was grateful to be part of the troops that had saved him years before.
Though raised a devout Catholic, he recalls that during the war, he never lost his faith in God but felt “that all labor camp experience benumbs you,” especially after such dehumanizing treatment. Yet after spending time in the library, he came across the Bible, which set him on a course toward ministry, teaching theology and religion, and writing his book, The Clear Word, which was an expanded paraphrase of the Bible.
Dr. Jack Blanco is survived by his daughter, Cheri Blanco Jones, his daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. All memorial donations will be given to the Jack and Marion Blanco Endowment Fund. A memorial will be held in the spring.