William Delano Blatchford

William “Bill” Delano Blatchford, 86, Maskell, NE passed away on Friday, October 28, 2022, at Sanford Vermillion Medical Center, Vermillion, SD with his loving wife at his side.

Memorial Services will be 11:00 am on Saturday November 5th, 2022 at Mohr Funeral Home in South Sioux City, NE.  Visitation will be held on Friday from 5-7pm also at Mohr Funeral home. Ashes will be spread afterwards in Maskell, NE. Online condolences to the family may be posted at www.mohrfuneralhome.com.

Bill was born April 30, 1936, in rural Maskell, NE, the youngest of seven children to Arthur and Mae (Maskell) Blatchford. He attended Lime Creek Country School, Maskell High School and later graduated from Chappell High School, Chappell, NE. After high school, Bill enlisted into the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the Battleship USS Wisconsin in Brooklyn, NY where he met Regina Gail Della Croce.  He was Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1964 and married Regina on December 24, 1965, in Palos Hills IL.  They moved to Selden, (Long Island), NY and had 3 children.  Bill owned a small laundry business and worked as a long-haul Semi Truck Driver.  Bill enlisted back into the U.S. Navy Seabees in June 1973 and was stationed in Port Hueneme, CA at the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion as an Equipment Operator.  He performed duties all over the world to included Guam, Spain, Puerto Rico, and several remote islands such as Diego Garcia.  After retiring from the U.S. Navy as a Chief in 1985, he and Regina moved to Maskell, NE.  They enjoyed travelling around the USA and travelled to Europe with his older brother Roger and wife Nancy.  Bill then worked for Kellogg, Brown and Root, Inc. in support of the U.S. military missions where he worked in Bosnia (1992) and later in Djibouti (2003).  He owned a trucking dispatch company and a trucking company where they hauled logs and grain.  Regina passed away on May 1, 2002.  Bill remarried Jeanne Ilene Nelson on September 10, 2004.  He worked with a local agricultural transport company hauling grain.  Bill loved to go to the car races at Park Jefferson Raceway and travelled round the USA to attend stock car NASCAR races.

Survivors include wife, Jeanne (Nelson) Blatchford, daughters, Susan Larsen of Perth, Western Australia; Jacqueline (Kristoffer) Ellison of Camarillo, CA; sons, Tony (Megan) Whelchel of International Falls, MN; William (Kelli) Blatchford of Sioux City, IA; eight grandchildren, Dustin Blatchford, Allyssa Kimble, Clayton Larsen, Reilly Larsen, Rachel Ellison, Cooper Ellison, McKenna Whelchel, Cody Whelchel, six Great-Grandchildren: Zephaniah, Jacob, Electa, Layla, Leonicio and Grayson; one Brother, Roger Blatchford of Onawa, IA; Mother-in -Law, Mavis Nelson of Maskell, NE; and sister-in-law Marilyn Blatchford.

Bill was preceded in death by his first wife Regina Blatchford, Sisters, Shirley Benson and Phyllis Nelson; Brothers, Dilworth Blatchford, Paul Blatchford and Darrell "Tubby" Blatchford; and his Parents, Arthur and Mae Blatchford.