SAN MARINO NEWS
By Mitch Lehman

As heartfelt remembrances of their son’s rich life continue to pour in to the family home, a scholarship fund set up at Flintridge Prep in honor of J.P. Blecksmith has topped $120,000. Blecksmith, a star student-athlete at Prep and the United States Naval Academy, lost his life in November while leading his company of Marines in Iraq.
Administrators and family members hope to see the scholarship figure grow to $250,000 so it can be self-sustaining, Ed Blecksmith, J.P.’s father, told The Tribune.
“We would love to see the scholarship continue in perpetuity,” Ed Blecksmith said. “We are honored to reward a young person who shares the values that J.P. believed in and used to guide his life.”
The family is currently exploring possible criteria for potential scholarship applicants.
In the meantime, tributes to J.P. have been plentiful. The Navy Midshipmen football team dedicated their November 21 game against Rutgers – a 54-21 victory – to their fallen teammate. In the locker room after the game, the players traditionally count off the score.
“That was for J.P.” said the team co-captains, who phoned the Blecksmith Family after the game.
Prior to the annual Army-Navy football game, President George W. Bush led a moment of silence in honor of Blecksmith, Scott Zellum and Ron Winchester, all former Midshipmen who lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bush then proceeded to the Navy bench where he touched the jerseys of each player, placed there in tribute to their gridiron and battlefield sacrifices.
Navy football Coach Paul Johnson, who won the Bobby Dodd NCAA Coach of the Year award in leading the Midshipmen to their first ten-win season since 1905, also placed a personal call to the Blecksmiths and passed on his condolences.
Pam and Ed Blecksmith were the guests of United States Secretary of the Navy Gordon England at the 2004 Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, where the Midshipmen defeated New Mexico 34-19.
Rob Whitlow, an ex-Marine and Blecksmith family friend who now works for Nike, designed a commemorative shoe, adorned with the uniform numbers of Blecksmith, Zellum and Winchester, that was worn – along with memorial patches – by Midshipmen co-captains at the Emerald Bowl.
J.P. has also been enshrined at the Marine Memorial Club in San Francisco. Flintridge Prep will retire J.P.’s uniform number 10, and the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles will create a memorial to J.P. and establish a living memorial to all sons and daughters of Jonathan Club members who pass away during military service.
Those wishing to honor J.P. may may make a gift to the J.P. Blecksmith Memorial Scholarship Fund at Flintridge Prep by calling Leah McCreary, (818) 790-7737.