A who's who of community leaders pays respects to former Wilmington Councilmember Ted Blunt

The public visitation and memorial service for former Wilmington City Council President Ted Blunt on Monday brought together family, friends and a who's who of politicians, civic leaders and spiritual advisers to celebrate the life of the man who was considered a community titan, friend, mentor, and beloved family member.

Blunt is the father of Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. Many notable leaders came to pay respect to Blunt including Sens. Chris Coons and Tom Carper, Delaware State University President Tony Allen, former Wilmington mayors Jim Sills and James Baker, and current Mayor Mike Purzycki.

Bishop Silvester Beaman, who had served as pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Wilmington during Blunt's tenure on Wilmington City Council, officiated the proceedings at the Chase Center. Beaman, a friend of President Biden, delivered the benediction at Biden's presidential inauguration. President Biden himself attended a Sunday visitation service for Blunt, sent flowers and appeared in a recorded video message during the Monday service.

Blunt was eulogized as an ambitious young man who grew up in the projects in Philadelphia to become a widely respected powerbroker in Wilmington. Beaman praised Blunt for his ability to unite those with opposing perspectives and rally support for shared objectives. He said Blunt was always in the room if it meant the uplift of people "politically, socially, and economically."

One of his successors, Ernest "Trippi" Congo, the current president of Wilmington's City Council, said he sees Blunt's work and feels humbled by his predecessor's accomplishments, including post-secondary education scholarship funds for Wilmington high school seniors and grants that support community organizations.

"He taught everybody who he came into contact with so much about our politics and how it gets done and how to work together and what's best for the community," Congo said.

A career devoted to education and justice

Blunt devoted his career to education and justice, with a particular passion for guiding and educating young people. He began his profession as a juvenile gang worker in Philadelphia and later moved to Wilmington in 1969 to work as a program director at the Peoples Settlement Association.

For more than 30 years, Blunt worked as an administrator with a focus on elementary education, special education, ESL programs and parental engagement in the Wilmington, New Castle County, and the Red Clay Consolidated School Districts. He also taught evening classes at the University of Delaware and Delaware Technical and Community College.

Throughout his career, Blunt held roles at organizations such as Head Start and the Wilmington Housing Authority. Additionally, he served as president of the Haynes Park Civic Association and the Wilmington Optimist Little League and established a youth basketball tournament.

Theodore Blunt died Jan. 11 at 80 years old. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Alice; their three daughters, Lisa, Thea and Marla; his brother, John, a former news anchor for the NBC station in Philadelphia; his sister, Catherine; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Ted Blunt Memorial Fund, which will provide scholarships in his honor. Contributions by check should be payable to the Delaware Community Foundation with "Blunt Memorial" in the memo line. The mailing address is PO Box 1636, Wilmington, DE 19899. For online donations, visit https://delcf.org/donations/ted-blunt/.

Contact reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com. Join her on the Facebook group Delaware Voices Uplifted. Support her work and become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Biden sends floral bouquet, video message to Ted Blunt's memorial