William E. Blaine, Jr. ’46 died on June 14, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio.
(The following was provided by Dignity Memorial on June 14, 2025:)
William E. Blaine, Jr. ’46
“If we listen closely to our heart; we will hear the call to serve. It’s a call that was a part of our being when we were born and is always there whether we pay attention to it or not…God holds us responsible. So, let’s respond to that call to serve; let’s give a little of ourselves to help others”
William E. Blaine, Jr. passed away July 14, 2025, and lived his life by those words of serving others throughout his one-hundred-one-and-a-half years. William preceded in death by his soulmate of seventy-one years, Jo Ann Merkle Blaine, and his parents, W. Emerson “Emmy” Blaine and Kathryn Blaine. Survived by his son Michael J. Blaine of Grandview Heights, Ohio, daughter Cathy J. Egner of Malibu, California, son J. Craig Blaine (Jo) of San Diego, California, son Judson E. Blaine (Monica) of Upper Arlington, Ohio; grandchildren, Ryan (Zhouie) Emerson, Myles Egner, Anna Egner (John Crisan), Max Blaine, Bridget Blaine, Jillian Beers (Zach), Chelsea Kuck (David), and Tyler Blaine (Alexandria); and greatgrandchildren, Bear and Joanna Emerson, Elly Lehman, and Duke, Lo, Romy, and Rafe Blaine.
A graduate of the Columbus Academy, Bowdoin College (B.A.), The Ohio State University (J.D. and M.B.A.), and Century University (PhD Finance).
William served his country as a lieutenant in the Navy. He piloted the amphibious plane PBY during WWII and the Korean War. His love of flying never left his heart.
After the war, William served his family by practicing law in Columbus, Ohio, until called into the family lumber business. Being the third generation in the lumber business, William and his father grew the businesses into one of the largest lumber and building materials companies in the Midwest.
William served future entrepreneurs as a teacher of business at The Ohio State University and Muskingum University. Many business owners attribute their start in business from encouraging advice from William.
Over his lifetime, William served his community by serving on non-profit boards including: Columbus Rotary, Junior Achievement, Easter Seals, United Way, Methodist Theological School of Ohio, Syntaxis, Catholic Social Services, Ohio Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Central Ohio, National Church Residences, UA Building & Zoning, UA Library Fund, Ohio Wesleyan University, and American Red Cross. He gave of his time, talent, and treasure.
William served his faith by teaching sixth-grade Sunday School for forty years at Trinity United Methodist Church. He taught multi-generational families and prepared them for entering the membership of the church.
To say that William was a man of exceptional character would be an understatement. Having received five lifetime achievement awards from five different organizations, but you would never know he received any because of his humble nature.
Even though William’s life of service and humbleness could have qualified him for divineness, he always had time for his family. Rather it was a decades-long overseeing the Sunday family cookouts after church, or supporting his children’s many endeavors, or planning the many family trips abroad, or his decades-long Friday date-night dinners with JoAnn at the Columbus Club. William and JoAnn were avid travelers and art collectors. Their lifetime love of the fine arts and building a collection spanned most of their life. William is the example of love and grace to his family.
Affectionally known as “Dee” to his family, he demonstrated that life is to be lived to the fullest at any age. Authoring a total of thirteen published books (including twelve books in his eighties), or playing chess with his son, Craig, into his nineties and hundreds, or playing bridge, doing puzzles, doing isometrics, all into his nineties and hundreds. “Dee” enjoyed swimming laps well into his nineties, and played golf into his eighties.
While giving a speech at a benefit, William quoted from Oliver Wendell Homes: “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no person can sincerely try to help another without helping themselves.” William was born with a servant’s heart and a faith that led him to a lifetime of service to his: faith, family, country, community, and business.
William would never hold his life up as an example for others to live by, but that is the reason why anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him, will use him as the example of how to live life the way it is meant to be lived.