BOBBY ANNE BLANCHARD

Bobby Anne Blanchard passed away on October 10, 2025 in Carthage, Missouri. She was 74 years old. Bobby was born on April 28, 1951 in Lamar, Missouri to Betty Berry and Robert Blanchard. 

Bobby was Mother, Mom, and Mamma to three children. She took us to church and taught us about Jesus. She attended volleyball games, made the best Halloween costumes, and taught us to decorate cookies. She would wake us up in the morning with a surprise day trip planned to different places. And she spent many nights at the sewing machine making clothes for us out of fabric that she let us pick for ourselves. She was always providing, always up for an adventure, and always making memories.

Bobby married Jeff Blankenbeckler in 1995 and they moved to Arizona where they owned the School House Inn Bed and Breakfast for ten years. Bobby enjoyed card-making parties with friends, watching professional bull-riding, a good movie with a Pepsi, and monthly visits to see her granddaughter, Ruby, for many years. On one of these visits, she drove four hours with a cooler of snow so that her Phoenix grandbaby could build a snowman.

Bobby and Jeff moved to Texas in 2008 where Bobby fought and beat cancer, taught us to “choose happy,” and enjoyed walking up and down the beaches looking for sand dollars. Perhaps her grandest adventure was a month-long vacation to Paris that brought her so much joy for years to come.

In 2016, they moved back to Arizona. Most recently, in 2023 their final adventure was a move back to Lamar to be near family.

Bobby is preceded in death by her parents, Betty Berry and Robert Blanchard.

Bobby is survived by her devoted husband Jeff Blankenbeckler; her children, Travis Rodebush, Holly Hutchins (Tom England), and Jinny De Luca (Paul De Luca); her sister, Lisa Cunningham (Ronnie Cunningham) and brother, Mike Blanchard; her aunt Cora Lynn Combs; grandchildren Austin England, Caleb England, Colter England, and Ruby De Luca; niece and nephews David Blanchard, Melanie Blanchard, Drew Cunningham (Sydney Cunningham), and Rylee Cunningham; great-niece Zoey Cunningham, as well as four great-granddaughters.

She is loved and missed by all who called her Mom, Wife, Sister, Gamma, Aunt, and Friend. 

After her battle with cancer, Bobby decided to contribute to medical research by donating her body upon her death. In her honor, please consider making a donation towards medical research. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Celiac Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, and cancer were all conditions that touched her life or someone dear to her.