Alan Blannin, 61, of Hollis, NH, husband of Debra S. (McCubrey) Blannin, passed away early Sunday morning, November 6, 2016 at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack after a courageous, two and half year battle with colorectal cancer.
He was born in London England on April 29, 1955 the son of Freda M. (Rose) and the late Albert F. Blannin. He grew up in Bristol England. He graduated with High Honors from the University of Southampton, England in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics.
Alan had a long and successful career, over 40 years, as a software architect and engineer, consultant and entrepreneur. He began his career with Digital Equipment in England and immigrated to the United States working for Digital Equipment. He spent the last nineteen years at Foliage Software Systems where he was responsible for architecture, implementation and technical leadership for a variety of software projects. He co-founded Graphic Edge which specialized in image compression and image processing as applied to the graphic arts industry. He held several patents for different products some of which were marketed to Adobe.
Music was a passion and important part of his life. He was an accomplished pianist and recently built and taught himself to play the pipe organ. He and Debra always included trips to different cathedrals in England and Europe to listen to various organ recitals. He was a voracious reader and enjoyed collecting old books especially those of English Naval History. Alan loved the weekly challenge of the English cryptic crossword in the Guardian newspaper.
He enjoyed his daily long walks with his dogs on the Beaver Brook Conservation trails in Hollis, traveling with Debra, spending time with friends in the local pubs of his native England listening to the local music and spending summers listening to the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA. He had a passion for driving and restoring antique Jaguar cars and as a young man he built a Dutton kit car in England.
Members of his family include his wife of 33 years Debra, whom he married on March 19, 1983, his mother, Freda Blannin of Milford-on-Sea, England; NH; his father-in-law Philip McCubrey of Nashua, NH; his brother-in-laws and their families Luther and Patricia McCubrey of Brookline, NH and March and Anne McCubrey of Nashua, NH, his nephews Charles and John McCubrey of Brookline, NH and Grant and Ian McCubrey of Nashua, NH, his goddaughter Hayley Rose of Hinckley, England, his uncle Reginald Rose and his aunt Lorna Geary both of Hinckley, England as well as many cousins and friends.
Alan was grateful for the wonderful care he received at Massachusetts General Hospital and SNHMC Foundation Hematology/Oncology. Alan’s family would like to offer a very special thank you to the staff at SNHMC, who helped Alan through these last two and a half years, especially Dr. Marcia Browne and Dr. Jeffery Clark of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Calling hours will be held at the FARWELL FUNERAL HOME, 18 Lock Street, Nashua on Tuesday, November 15th from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. A memorial service will be held in The Congregational Church of Hollis, U.C.C., Monument Square in Hollis, NH, Wednesday, November 16th at 11a.m. Friends are invited to attend. Donations may be made in his memory to the Beaver Brook Association, 117 Ridge Road, Hollis, NH 03049 http://www.beaverbrook.org/; Humane Society for Greater Nashua, 24 Ferry Road, Nashua, NH 03064 http://www.hsfn.org/ or to the Community Hospice House, 7 Executive Park Drive, Merrimack, NH 03054 https://www.hhhc.org/ . Arrangements are in the care of the FARWELL FUNERAL SERVICE. (603) 882-0591. www.farwellfuneralservice.com
