Pat Blanchard

Pat was born in Appling, Georgia in 1943 to parents Mildred and John Pierce Blanchard. He was the second of five sons. After graduating from Harlem High School in 1961, he entered Georgia Southern College where he received a degree in Business Administration. During his college tenure, he was the President of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and served as Vice-President of the student congress. He was also an initial founder of the professional fraternity Delta Sigma Pi.

 After graduating college, Pat began his professional career with Georgia Railroad Bank & Trust Company in Augusta, Georgia in 1966. He quickly moved from the marketing department to being elected as an Assistant Vice-President of the Bank. At the age of 27, he was appointed to the position of Assistant State Treasurer of Georgia in Atlanta and was considered to be the youngest Assistant State Treasurer in America. He then became one of Georgia’s youngest Bank Presidents in 1974 at which time he was elected President and CEO of Georgia State Bank, Martinez, Georgia at the age of 30.

During the span of a 52-year career in banking, he went on to hold other positions as well such as organizer, President and CEO of Georgia Bank & Trust Company of Augusta, and a contributing founder of Georgia-Carolina Bancshares, Inc. and President and CEO of First Bank of Georgia, also in Augusta. He continued to serve as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Georgia-Carolina Bancshares, Inc. after his retirement in 2008.

Blanchard served a two-year term as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Southern University Foundation, Inc. and served as Chairman of the Business Advisory Council of the College of Business Administration at Georgia Southern University. He is recognized on local and national levels in the field of banking. He was named “1994 CEO of the Year “ by the Augusta Business Journal.

On November 27, 2000, Governor Roy E. Barnes appointed Blanchard to the State Military Affairs Coordinating Committee. Mr. Blanchard is an honorary member of the United States Signal Core Regiment and holds the rank of Brevet Colonel of the United States Signal Corps. He is a former Chairman of the Board of the Richmond-Columbia County Unit of the American Cancer Society. He is also a Past President of the Richmond-Columbia County Division of the American Heart Association and Past President of the East Central Region of the American Lung Association. He served as Chairman of the Board of both the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.

He has also served as President of the Augusta Symphony League and President of Historic Augusta, Inc. Mr. Blanchard also served on the State Board of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia as well as the Macon-Augusta Regional Board of the Better Business Bureau. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Leadership Augusta and served on the Board of Directors of the Augusta Museum of History. He has served as the Chairman of the Regional Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA as well as the Board of the Goodwill Works Foundation in Augusta. Mr. Blanchard was also a long-standing member of the Augusta Rotary Club and holds the honor of being named a "Paul Harris Fellow" by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

In 1999, Blanchard was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the College of Business Administration at Georgia Southern University. Shortly thereafter, he was honored by the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi with the 1999 National Career Achievement Award. In 2002, Blanchard was named the International Chairman of the Board of the Delta Sigma Pi Leadership Foundation.

In 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named Georgia-Carolina Bancshares, Inc. as number three on a list of Georgia's 100 Top Performing Companies. This is a position the company maintained two years in a row. In the same year, Blanchard became the first inductee into the Central Savannah River Area Business Hall of Fame.

In 2007 and again in 2008, The Atlanta Business Chronicle named Blanchard one of Georgia's Top 25 Performing CEOs ranked for a five-year shareholder return. In 2007 and 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recognized Georgia Carolina Bancshares, Inc. as one of the Top Highest Performing Publicly Traded Companies in Georgia.

The Metropolitan Spirt Newspaper in 2008 conducted a poll of its readers and Blanchard was named as one of Augusta's Greatest Givers. In 2009, Blanchard was again named one of Augusta's Most Influential Citizens by the same publication.

He was honored for his 50-year career in banking in 2012 by the Georgia Bankers Association and Community Bankers Association. Blanchard was recognized in the book, Local Legends of Augusta by author, Don Rhodes in 2014. During the same year, Blanchard published his book on Executive Leadership, Starting at the Top.

 During his most recent active years, he has been honored by Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Augusta Players, Inc., The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, the Community Bankers of Georgia, the Georgia Bankers Association and Leadership Augusta.

Blanchard was preceded in death by two brothers, Perry C. Blanchard, and Preston K. Blanchard and leaves behind his wife of 57 years, Gwen Banks Blanchard, their two children, Mary Brannen Blanchard and Patrick G. Blanchard, Jr. (Gretchen) as well as four grandsons, William (Will) Blanchard Rayburn, John Banks Rayburn, Patrick G. Blanchard, III and Charles (Charlie) Jordan Blanchard. He also leaves two brothers, J. Pierce Blanchard, Jr. (Deborah) and Philip (Phil) B. Blanchard (Kay) and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

 A memorial service is planned for Friday, November 15th, 2024 at 2:00 pm at the Storey Chapel of First Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia with Dr. Rodger Murchison officiating. The family will receive guests starting at 1:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the following organizations: the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, the National Stroke Association, or a Charity of one’s choice.