Antonio F. Blanco, known by most as Dr. Blanco or Tony, died on Oct. 13 in Danbury, Conn., He was 79.
Born in Cuba, Blanco emigrated to the United States via the Peter Pan Project, an airlift project for unaccompanied children fleeing Fidel Castro’s communist dictatorship. Despite these difficult beginnings, his life was one marked by compassion, dedication, and a commitment to the well-being of children.
He attended medical school at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where he received his degree in medicine and surgery from His Majesty the King Don Juan Carlos I, in 1979. Upon graduation, he returned to the U.S. and joined the military, where he completed his residency in psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, as well as an additional two-year fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry. He went on to supervise and teach residents at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center and was honored there for outstanding clinical teaching. He maintained professional affiliations with the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.At his longtime private practice in Katonah, he was known for his sense of humor, his no-nonsense approach, and for always going above and beyond for his patients and their families. He loved his work, continuing to see his patients until the day he went into hospice.
He is survived by his wife, Genevieve Blanco; his daughter, Leslie Blanco; three grandchildren and his sister, Maria.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to Regional Hospice in Danbury, Conn., at regionalhospicect.org, or to PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, at pacer.org/bullying.