In Memoriam Bill Blasingame, Sr.

The pest control industry mourns the loss of William E. “Bill” Blasingame, who passed away on Feb. 25, at 99. Blasingame spent 74 years in the pest control industry and was a WWII veteran.

Blasingame served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and upon graduation he attended and graduated from The University of Georgia (in 1950) with a bachelor’s in entomology. He has been continuously associated with the pest control industry in three different capacities – a regulatory official, a member of the industry and as a consultant and teacher in the pest control industry.

Immediately after graduation in 1950, Blasingame began working with the Georgia Department of Entomology as assistant state entomologist. He was appointed state entomologist in 1955 and served in that capacity until 1964 when he resigned to join Getz Services. Blasingame worked with Getz as vice president and technical director until 1974. In 1974, he became director of Stephenson Services, a division of Stephenson Chemical Company.

The Georgia Structural Pest Control Act was passed in 1955 and Blasingame served as the first chairman of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission. He served on the commission until he left state service in 1964. As director of the entomology division of the Georgia Department of Agriculture he was also responsible for the enforcement of this law. He was one of the organizers of the Association of Structural Pest Control Regulatory Officials and served one term as chairman.

Blasingame has served as president or chairman of the following professional organizations:  National Pest Management Association, Georgia Pest Control Association, Georgia Entomological Society, Georgia Council of Entomology, Georgia Plant Pathology Association, Southern Plant Board and Pi Chi Omega. In addition, Blasingame was inducted into the PMP Pest Control Hall of Fame in 2011, the GPCA Hall of Fame, and was also named as one of the 80 most influential people in the pest control industry of all time. 

Blasingame’s iconic career has allowed him to meet many people in the industry from all over the world and he has trained tens of thousands of pest management professionals.

Blasingame was married to wife Sarah for 69 years, until her passing in 2016.