Blaine L Blad

Blaine L Blad, 87, of Kanosh, UT passed away August 4, 2026 in St. George, UT after a courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was born April 2, 1939 in Cedar City, UT to Carl Hamblin and Loueda Allan Blad and was the oldest of nine children. He married his sweetheart, Virginia Jean Blackham in the Manti LDS Temple on February 14, 1964 and lived a full, abundant life in Nevada, Utah, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Blaine had a happy childhood in Panaca, NV playing with friends, marbles, climbing the local hills and watching out for rattlesnakes. He hunted birds and had stellar slingshot skills and claims to have decimated 10% of the birds in Panaca. Around the 5th grade, his family moved to the Payson/Salem, UT area where his father, Carl, managed a Chevron service station. A favorite highlight was attending the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians with his dad where he witnessed Willie Mays’ legendary over-the-shoulder catch after his dad won two tickets in a national contest with Chevron Oil.

As the oldest son in a full house, Blaine spent most of his youth outside where he strengthened his love of nature by swimming and fishing at his beloved Salem pond and honing his hunting skills in the surrounding hills and mountains with his brothers, father and extended family. As an elementary student, Blaine was recognized for his outstanding penmanship and showcased his cursive skills in countless personal letters and poems for the rest of his life. He also graduated #1 in his high school class and had only one A- which was surprisingly in Physical Education.

His love for sports was forged in his youth as he played football, basketball, baseball and track with his athletic and active brothers. He played in the all-church basketball tournament in Salt Lake City as a youth and was recognized as the most outstanding athlete as a senior at Spanish Fork High. He later played on the BYU freshmen baseball team and batted .446. His love for sports remained an integral part of his life with active participation as an adult in church sports (basketball and softball), community softball and golf leagues, pick-up basketball games, and supporting his children in their sporting interests and cheering on his beloved BYU Cougars and Nebraska Cornhuskers.

After high school, Blaine attended Brigham Young University (BYU). While attending school, he milked cows at the BYU dairy farm and worked at the Del Monte cannery in Spanish Fork. Not only did he support himself but he shared his earnings with his large family to help ends meet. In addition to work and studying, Blaine served in the Utah Army National Guard from 1957-1964. He was in the Springville engineering unit from 1957-1961. He was a driver of many gasoline vehicles. He also helped build the road from Midway, Utah to the American Fork Canyon. From 1961-1964 he was in the Nephi Artillery unit, where he worked as a surveyor. He surveyed the lands for firing artillery for training. He achieved the rank of E-5. His military service advanced his great love of country that he celebrated often and passed along to his posterity.

At age 20, Blaine served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Central States mission specifically in North Dakota and Minnesota. During that mission, he became seriously ill and was near death from stomach ulcers. After many pleas to the Lord and a priesthood blessing from his mission president, he was healed immediately and miraculously. Not only did that experience infuse him with greater fervor and faith but he was able to finish his mission without further incident. Blaine kept that missionary zeal and spirit alive for the rest of his life and was instrumental in bringing several souls to Jesus Christ, which brought him great joy, satisfaction and cherished relationships.

Upon returning from his mission, Blaine resumed his studies at BYU where he majored in Chemistry. While teaching a chemistry lab for home economic majors, he met the love-of-his-life, Virginia Blackham. Despite having “baggy” pants and attraction issues, Blaine became attractive, even “delicious” to Virginia after she prayed to know if they were to marry. From that spiritual confirmation forward, their love for each other never wavered and their “chemistry” was eternally solidified. Their courtship was marked by hot fudge sundaes and study dates. As newlyweds, they moved to St. Paul, MN where Blaine received a fellowship and completed Masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota in Soil Science. During his graduate studies, he taught early morning seminary to the local youth and became an official GirlDad with the birth of his three daughters–Debby, Sheryl and Colleen. That special bond led to many daddy-daughter dates and fueled a memorable win at a high school daddy-daughter dance competition.

His professional career began at the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) as an agricultural meteorologist professor. During his 31-year university tenure, he served as chair for the Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Climatology and the Director of the School of Natural Resources where he was recognized for his outstanding leadership and ability to bring people together. He partnered with NASA and the University of Moscow and University of Tel Aviv and spent many summer days in Nebraska’s sandhills with his research students and family doing field work. He also started the LDS Church Institute at the University of Nebraska.

After planting roots in Lincoln, Blaine and Virginia welcomed three active boys (Kenneth, Stephen and Kirk) to the Bladdy bunch along with Kerry as part of the twin caboose. Those Nebraska days were filled with football and family, gardening and golf, canning and canines, fishing and fireflies, hunting and humidity, and friendship and faith. He served twice as Bishop Blad (family ward and YSA ward) and a lifetime as a devoted home teacher and youth leader. He was known as a scriptorian, widow and youth advocate and he taught with great passion, enthusiasm and testimony. He was an “example of the believers” and found true joy in church service, sharing the gospel, being with the saints and building the kingdom.

Upon retirement, Blaine and Virginia relocated to Kanosh, UT to be close to family and the great outdoors. He channeled his deep knowledge and love-of-the-land in planting and maintaining a large yard full of fruit trees and bushes and a garden full of herbs and countless vegetables. One of Blaine and Virginia’s greatest blessings was serving in the Manti Temple as ordinance workers for six years. After his beloved Virginia passed away and his health waned, he spent his remaining years living with his children in Utah, Colorado and Nebraska. He spent his final chapter welcoming great grandchildren and enjoying the fine arts, BYU sports, reading books, family reunions, fishing trips, TV, playing board and card games and eating culinary creations in the Lauret Kitchen.

Blaine lived life with purpose and left a legacy of family, faith, laughter, gratitude and service for all to enjoy.

Blaine is survived by his seven children and their spouses, 36 grandchildren and 51 great grandchildren. Children: Debra (Jim) Lauret, Orem, UT; Sheryl Marlor, Colorado Springs, CO; Colleen (Kurt) Peterson, St. George, UT; Kenneth (Angela) Blad, Omaha, NE; Stephen (Amy) Blad, Fort Collins, CO; Kirk (Andrea) Blad, Provo, UT; Kerry (Michael) Dorius, Hurricane, UT. Siblings: Devon Blad, Preston, ID; Merlin (Lois), Chubbuck, ID, Rhinda Christensen, Riverton, UT; Sharon Blad, Kanosh, UT; Dale Lynn (Denine) Blad, Hyrum, UT, Paul (Carolyn) Blad, Kanosh, UT; Kent (Ann) Blad, Riverton, UT. He is preceded in death by his wife Virgina, his parents Carl and Loueda, his father- and mother-in-law Howard and Bertha Blackham, his sister Carla Jean, his brother Phil Blad, his sisters-in-law Janell and Pauline Blad and Dianne Blackham, his brothers-in-law Ray Christensen and Robert Blackham, his son-in-law David Marlor and his grandson Matt Marlor. He also has many pets waiting to greet him - his beloved hunting dogs including Penny, Quarty, Nikki, Scout, and Daisy and our family felines namely Lucky, Midnight, and Kit Kat.

In lieu of flowers, feel free to donate to Parkinson’s foundation at www.parkinson.org or make a charitable contribution to LDS humanitarian or mission funds at donations.churchofjesuschrist.org/ For those attending the funeral, in person or spirit, please wear red, white or blue, in honor of his love for Nebraska, BYU and America.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. with a viewing from 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. prior to services at the Kanosh 2nd Ward Chapel (25 S Main St). Interment in the Kanosh Town Cemetery. 

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