Joseph James 'Jim' Blazina Obit

RETIRED COLONEL JOSEPH JAMES "JIM" BLAZINA, 93, of Los Gatos, CA, died peacefully of natural causes surrounded by his loving family on Jan. 25, 2023. He was born Oct. 14, 1929 in Duluth to Joseph James (“Joe”) Blazina and Anna Jennie Blazina (nee Kellerman). Jim attended Aitkin High School where he enlisted as a Private in the Minnesota State Guard. During his senior year in college, his Division was activated and Jim entered active service in the Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Tank Corps. His first post took him to Trieste, Italy, where he met Toni, the love of his life. They married in June 1953 at Castello Miramare in Trieste, overlooking the Adriatic Sea. For the next 30 years, Jim proudly served his country all over the world—luckily, he loved to travel. In addition to his time in Italy, he patrolled the border along the Iron Curtain in Germany, studied ordnance at the Armored School in Fort Knox, KY, and served a year in Thailand as an Ordnance advisor to the 4th Royal Thai Division. He was then posted to the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, did a tour in Korea in command of the 83rd Ordnance Battalion and commanded Fort Wingate Army Depot in Gallup, NM. Upon his promotion to Colonel, he returned to Germany as Director of Munitions and Missiles for U.S. Army Europe and later as Operations Commander, 21st Support Brigade. His final Army assignment brought him back to the USA as Deputy Commander Tooele Army Depot in Utah. Between tours abroad he returned to University of Minnesota to complete his BA (finally!) in 1957, served on faculty at the Ordnance Guided Missile School in Huntsville, AL, attended the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College in Kansas and earned his MBA at the University of Alabama in 1968. Jim was awarded the Army Occupation Medal (Germany), the Korea Defense Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Joint Services Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with second Oak Leaf Cluster and the Legion of Merit. Jim retired honorably from the Army in 1977 and moved his family to San Jose, CA, where he began his second career at FMC, a major defense contractor. There, he established the Subcontracting Department for the Defense Group, which supported production of the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) and the Marine’s Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) and later headed the proposal/ negotiations team for a billion-dollar program to further build out the Bradleys. He tried retiring again, but quickly returned to work with FMC’s Defense International Group as an expert consultant for Middle East business which afforded him the chance to visit Pakistan and climb the Khyber Pass. Upon his final retirement, Jim and Toni moved from San Jose to a retirement community in the nearby town of Los Gatos. Jim remained active, travelling, reading, golfing, kayaking and spending time with Toni, his family and friends. Jim was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Antonietta (“Toni”) Speranza Blazina (née Bulfon), and his sister Marguerite McParland. He is survived by his children, Joseph James Blazina III of Mill Bay, BC, Canada, Michael Anthony Blazina of Laguna Woods, CA, and Patricia Anne Blazina of San Jose, CA, as well as his sisters, Carol Deters of Robbinsdale and Darlene Blazina of Aitkin. A memorial service and interment for both Jim and Toni will be held at noon on Sunday, June 4 at Jim’s childhood church, St. John's Lutheran Church of Cedar Brook, Aitkin. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to either the Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org), the National Museum of the United States Army (thenmusa.org), the VFW or American Legion, or to the charity of your choice.