A legend in New Iberia and Louisiana passed away on Saturday.

Raymond Blanco, 87, passed away on Nov. 19, 2022 at his residence. “Coach” Blanco led Catholic High School to a state championship in football in 1962 and went on to coach at UL Lafayette.

His impact was felt off the field more than on. His work to bring social justice to the team, the school made a difference in the 60’s and his impact continues today.

His wife, Kathleen, died in August of 2019. Kathleen Blanco would become Louisiana’s first (and so far only) female governor. She was born on Dec. 15, 1942 in Coteau in Iberia Parish. She attended Coteau Elementary School and Mount Carmel Academy, a Catholic school for girls in New Iberia. After high school, she attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL), which is now named the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She graduated with a degree in business education and began a life-long journey as an ardent supporter of her alma mater, education and children.

They were married 55 years at the time of her death.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards sent a statement today to the Daily Iberian concerning his passing

Gov. Edwards honors Blanco

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statement on the passing of Former First Gentleman Raymond “Coach” Blanco.

“Some people make a lasting impression from the moment you meet them. Coach was one of those people. The son of immigrants and a devout Catholic, Coach believed in social justice and educational opportunities for all, passions he shared with his late wife Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. He was Louisiana’s first, and so far only, ‘First Gentleman,’ but he’d be the first to tell you that he won’t be the last. A legend in his own right, Coach led countless teams to victory before moving to an administrative role at his beloved University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His love for this state and devotion to his wife and family were effervescent. I will forever cherish his quick wit and sage counsel – as well as his recipe for the perfect Old Fashioned.

While this is a great loss for our state, we can be comforted in knowing that Coach is once again reunited with his best friend and soulmate, as well as their son Ben.

Donna and I ask that you join us in praying for their children and family during this difficult time.”

UL Lafayette’s Dr. Savoie remembers Blanco

Raymond S. “Coach” Blanco joined the football coaching staff in 1963. From 1969 to 1974, he was dean of men, dean of student personnel, and dean of students. He then became vice president for Student Affairs, a position he held until his 2009 retirement.

Dr. Joseph Savoie is currently UL Lafayette’s president, but Blanco hired him in 1978 as an assistant dean of student personnel.

From Dr. Savoie:

Coach Blanco once said that students were among his best friends – and our students never had a better friend, or fiercer advocate, than Raymond Blanco.

His devotion to their success and his belief in social justice created a legacy that remains deeply rooted in our University’s culture.

Those of us who worked for and with Coach heard him say many times that it was a moral obligation to listen to students and to respond to their concerns with fairness and kindness.

While there are hundreds of stories about his larger-than-life exuberance and escapades, there are just as many tales of quiet mentorship and guidance. In dorm rooms and locker rooms, in his living room and kitchen, he sat with students and simply listened.

He treated them as if they were his own, and offered counsel grounded in a definite sense of right and wrong. He connected with students as individuals who deserved attention and respect. He listened with his ears and heard them with his heart.

If we are today a University that encourages dialogue and understanding, that prioritizes the success and safety of students, that infuses caring and compassion into our mission, then we can rightfully claim to be following the example set by Raymond Blanco.

The University community joins me in offering condolences to Karmen, Pilar, Monique, Nicole, Ray, and their families.

The Blanco legacy

(Editor’s Note: is is from Jan. 2, 2021 and courtesy of Michael Neustrom, Football 1965-68 and UL Faculty & Staff Member 1970-74 & 1977-2000 and Edward Pratt, Football 1964-67 and UL Staff Member 1969-2011, on January 2, 2021)

In the fall of 1959 newly appointed Head Coach Raymond Blanco arrived at Catholic High School in New Iberia, Louisiana with a special energy and zeal for molding young men, both in the classroom and on the football field. Three years later, in 1962, this Birmingham, Alabama native coached his football team to win the first high school state championship in the Acadiana region since the advent of eleven-man football.

His talent for success was recognized and appreciated and in 1963 he left Catholic High when Coach Russ Faulkinberry recruited him to the coaching staff at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then University of Southwestern Louisiana). As Assistant Head Coach, he worked to develop community pride in UL’s football program and was a fiercely competitive recruiter. As head defensive coach he helped to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to two Conference Championships during his six seasons at UL. He spent hours into the nights counseling his players and encouraging academic excellence.

He is proud that every four-year player on his team earned their bachelor’s degrees, and many earned advanced degrees. Although most players graduated on time, a few had to take early leave for jobs and raising families before finishing their degree requirements. He made it his mission to find these young men and convince each and every one of them to return to UL to complete their studies and graduate.

As his unique talents gained wider recognition, he was recruited by the University of Louisiana for the job that defined the next 41 years of his life. In 1968 he became the Dean of Men and was later promoted to Dean of Students. Through the years as he was asked to assume greater responsibilities, Blanco was named Vice President of Student Affairs. He respected both students and faculty and was, in turn, respected by the UL family.

His compassionate heart, coupled with acute listening skill, cast him as the leading mentor to many thousands of students, athletes, administrators, faculty and staff on campus and sometimes to their families off campus as well. He counseled them through illnesses, accidents, work issues, personal troubles or just plain mischief. During the critical and sometimes dangerous years of desegregation, he boldly and proudly established a welcoming environment at UL for African American students and was responsible for hiring the first African American staff members in several high-level positions. He maintained calm on the UL campus during the unrest of the Vietnam War and Civil Rights periods.

In the 1980’s Louisiana’s Governor and Attorney General called upon Raymond to play key roles in two critical investigations. The first was an investigation of the shooting deaths of two students on Southern University’s campus. The second called for Dean Blanco to establish ground rules for safely re-opening Destrehan High School after a racial disturbance resulted in the shooting death of a student on campus.

The Blanco era at UL spanned the administrations of four university presidents and tens of thousands of students, but Raymond Blanco’s life as Coach, Dean, and Vice-President, came to include one especially unique title: First Gentleman of the State of Louisiana.

While he gave one-hundred percent of his early life to the university, in later years his love of politics led him, along with his wife, Kathleen, to establish a family polling company which satisfied his innate curiosity for in-depth information, gave him unique insights and enabled him to accurately guide many candidates for public office who sought his counsel.

No one better exemplified his capacity to coach winning campaigns than his favorite candidate, Kathleen, his wife and mother of their six children. He coached her through campaigns for the Louisiana House of Representatives, Public Service Commission and Lieutenant Governor and then to the Grand Championship of Louisiana politics, the Governorship. Indeed, she has never lost an election, and she says it’s because of her great Coach! And “Coach” is the name the First Gentleman was known by, the title he has always loved the most.

As the first and only First Gentleman of Louisiana, Raymond Blanco supported the Governor through Louisiana’s most challenging period following the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In Birmingham, Alabama, Raymond played football for John Carroll High School. He played football and graduated from St. Benedict’s College in Atchison KS (now Benedictine College). He is a first-generation college graduate who is very proud of his immigrant roots. His father came from Spain as a young man and found a home in the United States. His maternal grandfather immigrated to the United States from Italy and also made his home in this country.

He came to Louisiana in 1962 and found his own home. Now in retirement from both the University and his job as First Gentleman, Coach has time for swimming and water exercises, following his 14 grandchildren in their special endeavors, and doing a little fishing and hunting. He is still in high demand for mentoring or counseling young people and coaching candidates for public office.

Coach, Dean, Vice-President and First Gentleman Raymond Blanco has led a blessed life. In addition to his family, his greatest pleasure is to see those he guided become successful, productive individuals. He is much beloved for the care and compassion he demonstrated to the thousands of friends who came into his life over the past 85 years!

Landry Tribute

(Editor’s Note: This story appeared in the Daily Iberian in 2002 and was written by Chris Landry)

Forty years later, and the taste of victory is still sweet for members of the Catholic High School football team that went 13-0 and claimed the only state football championship so far in school history, the 1962 Class A crown.

Members of the team and the three surviving coaches reunited Friday as part of homecoming celebrations at Catholic High School, and had nothing but good memories of that year.

“Your heart feels good and you have a lot of good memories,” said Raymond Blanco, head coach of the 1962 squad. “They were very tough. I don’t think in our class there had ever been a team from Acadiana win a bi-district. I know they hadn’t won a state championship from this area except Morgan City (in 1958).”

Blanco left after the 1962 season and was succeeded by assistant coach Bobby Banna, who led the Panthers to three district titles in the next five years. Banna and fellow assistant Cam DeGravelle attended the reunion and homecoming game. Tom Colwell, the other assistant coach in 1962, passed away recently.

Blanco went on to coach at what was then USL and is now vice president of student affairs at UL-Lafayette.

Most of the players still survive, and many were at Friday’s activities, taking part in the halftime crowning of the homecoming queen as an honor guard.

“It brought back some good memories, being able to revisit some things,” said Edward Pratt, who lives in Lafayette. “A lot of us still see each other. It allowed us to really kid each other about a lot of things and reminisce and have some enjoyable moments.”

“This is great,” said Ken Judice of New Iberia, a sophomore on the 1962 team. “Some of these guys I haven’t seen in 15 or 20 years.”

“It’s people that have played that have been in different parts of the country,” added Mike Neustrom of Lafayette. “We occasionally see different people locally, but not from as far away and not in one setting, so it was good, getting back together.”

“It was very nice of Catholic High to allow us to do this,” said Pratt. “It allowed us to talk about some stories. We’ve called each other to make sure we were coming, so we got back in touch with each other.”

In an era when only district champions advanced to the playoffs, Blanco’s team had gone 10-0 in 1961 but lost its bi-district game. That loss sparked the following season’s success.

“We got off the field and realized we should have won that game. We had this empty feeling and we were going to make it up,” said Pratt. “We just started and took one game at a time.”

“That was everything,” said Blanco of the previous year’s disappointing playoff loss. “Catholic High had never won the district (before 1961).”

“We were building a tradition back then,” said Neustrom. “Prior to my freshman year, which was the year we went undefeated, we hadn’t won a lot of games. We were just starting. We had a lot of zest, a lot of enthusiasm, but we hadn’t won the big one.”

“We probably should have won state that year,” said Judice, who noted the Panthers had several key players injured for the playoffs in 1961. “It just so happened that in 1962 we did.”

“We were a small class at Catholic High,” he added. “When we took state we were sophomores. There were I think four 10th graders on the football team. Being as there were only 22 ballplayers, we played quite a bit.”

The ’62 players and coaches visited with the current team, and liked what they saw. Many see parallels between the teams. The Panthers are 7-0 overall and 2-0 in District 7-3A and look like the kind of team that could do damage in the playoffs.

“I was happy to come here tonight and seeing them 7-0 was very good,” said Blanco. “It made us all feel good. In 40 years, you never know what will happen.”

“It’s ironic they asked us to come this year and this team looks like they could repeat a championship year, and that would be wonderful,” said Pratt. “It’s a good team. They have some talent, obviously some good coaches and good leadership. We just went into the locker room.”

Pratt said the players recognized the same kind of winning spirit in this year’s team that the 1962 squad had.

“I think they play together well,” said Neustrom. “There wasn’t a lot one or two hot shots and superstars, there’s a lot of talent spread around. That’s the way we were. We didn’t have a lot of big shots. We had a lot of probably average to above average athletes that worked together hard and wanted to win.”

Neustrom’s brothers Duane and David, who live in New Iberia, keep him apprised of the current team, he said.

“They’ve got some great athletes,” said Judice. “We had some great athletes, 10th graders, 11th graders and 12th graders. They definitely have some athletes (this year). The good part about it, they have a lot of good athletes, so if they sustain an injury or two or three, I think they have some athletes who can fill in. Plus they have a great attitude.

“They know they’ve got a good ballclub. You can just sense it. When we went into the locker room and spoke with them briefly, you could sense it. They had a will to win and be winners.”

And seeing the team winning the way it is brought back more good memories.

“We have reunions about every five years but this was special,” said Pratt. “It wasn’t just our senior class, it was the whole team.