Aaron Sam Blanchard, known to all as Sam, died peacefully on December 2 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, surrounded by his wife and daughters after complications from heart surgery. He was 56.
With loved ones spread across the country, Sam left a wide void in the lives of those he touched, from the young and old fencers he coached in Princeton and Lambertville, to countless friends in the fencing and comics communities.
Sam’s life, full of adventures, began in Oregon and took him to New Jersey.
Born in Salem, Oregon, he grew up in Independence, Oregon, enjoying a near-mythical Gen X childhood filled with freedom. He spent his days bicycling, racing in soapbox derbies, reading comics, and honing his artistic talents, which he inherited from his parents.
Sam first encountered fencing in 1987 while studying at the University of Oregon. Years later, as a young single father to his son, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Oregon Institute of Technology.
After moving to Portland, Sam began fencing competitively at the Studio of American Fencing in 1995. He met his wife, Cate, a New Jersey native, in 1997, and they relocated with his son to the Garden State in 1998. On September 15, 2000, the family moved to Princeton, but three days later, Sam was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. He successfully overcame cancer through nine months of grueling treatment while continuing to commute to New York City daily.
Sam began fencing at the Princeton YMCA in 2004 under the guidance of coach and friend Charles Hurley. In 2012, he became the coach of the Princeton High School fencing team, a role he cherished. Coaching his daughter Ursula during her high school fencing career brought him special joy.
In 2018, Sam joined the Bucks County Academy of Fencing in Lambertville, New Jersey, as a coach after years of being a member. He also founded the Princeton Interscholastic Fencing Club that year to further share his love for the sport.
After leaving the corporate world in December 2019, Sam achieved his dream of coaching fencing full-time. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his plans, he devoted himself to his other passion—art. Working under the pen name “Shlepzig,” inspired by a character in Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, Sam gained recognition as an indie comics artist. After the world reopened, he became a regular at comic conventions and amassed fans worldwide.
Sam had many plans for the future, including creating more comics, teaching fencing classes and after-school fencing clubs, and embracing the adventures of grandparenthood.
Sam was preceded in death by his father, Melvin Blanchard, in May 2021, and his son, Bjorn Blanchard, in July 2024.
He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Cate; three daughters, Phoebe Blanchard, Ursula Blanchard (Riley) of Burnaby, British Columbia, and Jessica LeDuc (Michael) of Portland, Oregon; his mother, Merry Ann Blanchard of Lincoln City, Oregon; his sister, Andrea Whitaker (Ben) of Sherwood, Oregon; and two grandsons, Nikolai and Hawthorne of Portland, Oregon. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews, friends, students, former fencing students, and fans of his artwork.
A celebration of Sam’s life will be held in January at the Bucks County Academy of Fencing. The family asks that donations be made in his memory to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society givenow.lls.org or the United States Fencing Foundation usafencing.org/donate-foundation.