We Lost John Blennart Of Tucson

[flakmagnet]

Ouch. That one hits hard. For those of you who never had the pleasure of meeting or hunting with John B., we have lost a good one. This guy had one of the best senses of humor you could ever wish to be around. He also had a razor sharp mind, was highly experienced at finding all sorts of stuff. Meteorites, gold, tall stories, and so much more. I can't pretend I knew him well but I do know the several times I got to hunt with him and sit with him in the evening made a lasting impression on me. His famous pointy finger was no joke, he knew his stuff and generously shared what he had learned.

Godspeed friend. 

[Swegin]

I remember John showing me a photo of his dining room table covered with gold nuggets.  I wish I could remember his website.   He found many pounds of gold.

 

 

[Reno Chris]

As noted, John had a great sense of humor and would kid people with no mercy. But he had a thick hide and you could kid him back just as much and he would laugh. He had a lot of adventures, including spending a month under house arrest in Oman. He had permission to hunt meteorites there from the authorities, but apparently not from everyone who might object. He had to buy his way out  - in countries like that you can purchase your freedom if you have the money. He hunted gold in Australia, and of course all over Arizona. He had found pounds of gold in Arizona and spent a lot of time detecting there. John loaned some of his gold to Arizona museums to display. This is a tiny, tiny part of the gold he found.

[dirtman]

I met John when I first moved to AZ.  2006.

I was at that outing that was mentioned earlier when John had steaks for all. John had a Beautiful personality in my opinion, he could make me laugh without even trying 👑.

Little true story here,... John called me one day asked if I could do him a favor, he was tied up and couldn't get away to meet someone and guide them on a Meteorite Hunt.

Absolutely I said, well the party got in touch with me and we made arrangements to meet up at the Entrance to Gold Basin.

Turns out I spent 3-4 days with this person and his Lady friend I made some sandwiches and sides each day and brought a cooler with drinks for us all as they were camped out in a tent up in Meadview.

We became friends and had an enjoyable few days together.

Turns out that I was guiding  and entertaining Max McCoy and his girlfriend. Max is a Professor at Emporia University in Kansas and was an Author of Indiana Jones Novels amount other books 😱 Surprised the hell outta me at the time !

When he returned home to Kansas he sent me a package with some autographed novels and wrote a letter of appreciation to me.

A Great experience and lifelong memory for me which would never have happened without Mr. John Blennert 👑👍.  R.I.P. John proud to be able to call you a friend throughout these years in Arizona 🤝🤠

[Jim P.]

What a life he lived. Never met a more generous person, giving of time, knowledge, material things all while entertaining you with his amazing adventures and quick wit. He provided one of the most memorable days of my life, starting with a VIP tour of the Tucson gold show the year GOLD was the theme, followed by a tour of the vendors in the surrounding motels. He topped off the day with a show and tell of his own of gold and meteorites, but not until I passed the initiation of sniffing and licking the Coprolite he kept near the front door.🤢

Here's a link with some surviving photos that still work. https://web.archive.org/web/20010611113323/http://www.gci-net.com/users/g/goldmaster/

We'll miss you John. Later...Jim P.

[Mike C...]

This a very sad time as John B will truly be missed by all who knew him-He put some people on to the biggest nuggets they ever found Including Robbery A as he named him.I first met  JB about 30 years ago I was out hunting for gold in the middle of quartzite when I bumped into him and he was not only funnier than you know what especially when he razzed people but a real wealth of knowledge.Rip my friend 😞

[Doc]

Oh man my heart aches for this one.  John B. God Bless You brother.  What a great generous guy.  He got steaks for the outings more than one time.

He would always allow you to hunt his claim out in Gold Basin.  Quite the man.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family.  Seems like we lose more and more of the legacy of South Western gold prospectors as time goes on.

We lost Joe DeMarco in November of 2022.  He was only 52.  A fellow MiNELAB Dealer and very well known in the industry.  Made it to every Dealer Conference.  He died while Metal Detecting.

I told you Metal Detecting was dangerous.  It was quite a shock when I heard about Joe as well as John.

I first met John in person in 2001 in Gold Basin at the annual Beanorama.  Read about it here.

https://docsdetecting.com/beanorama-fall-2001/

All I knew of him before was all of the heated arguments regarding which metal detector was better.

Well little did I know this was one of the nicest guys in the industry and certainly had a wealth of knowledge about not only finding gold but meteorites

John had 2 enormous binders of letters from museums all over the country to whom he had donated meteorites.  All he would ask is that they would appraise the value of the donation and send him a letter attesting to the fact that he had donated a piece of the universe.  He even had a letter from the Vatican Museum in Rome.  The letterhead was amazingly beautiful.  And the appraisal of the meteorite was also "unwordly."  John would submit copies of these letters with his tax returns every year to claim the charitable deduction.  Everything was above board, he never placed a value on anything.  I mean is the I.R.S. going to argue with the Vatican that a meteorite was worth $13,000?  (I can't remember  the exact amount, but it was a "No way Jose, amount."

John was also the originator and founder of the 1 Ounce Club.  He would award an impressive certificate to anyone who had verified that they had found a nugget with a metal detector weighing at least 1 ounce.  To that end, a year ago I had some beautiful pins made up and sent a bunch of them to John.  This was so he would have a pin to give out with his certificates.  



Rest in peace pioneer and adventure seekers, I'm sure we will all catch up with you on down the road.

Doc

This picture was taken at the annual outing down at Vulture Mine area in 2022.

JB holding court. I left camp about 8 am Saturday morning, came back at 12 noon and JB and crew hadn't moved an inch. JB said he was afraid to move for fear he might step onto the Road Runner's claim.

[dirtman]

Doc you touched on a sensitive subject for me.

JB's Ouncer Club 🎯👌

When I 1st heard mentioned many years ago It left an impression on me I can't explain.

There was nothing more important in my life after learning about it.

A College Or Special Ed Diploma, Meeting the President, Dinner with a Celebrity, nothing was more important.

I had to Achieve it, it became an obsession to me. Someone could spend the rest of their life trying to detect an ounce or larger nugget and fail completely odds were against it.

I spent years at it and Dam if I didn't Trip the Switch and Beat the odds one day. And By more than double a 2.49 Oz piece.

Looked like Vampire Fangs coming down both sides of it hence the photo in mouth 🤣😂

It was the Vampire Nugget of the Ouncer Club 👍👌

And with multiple witnesses hunting along side me at the time 👍

It was more important to me than any education certificates could be. 

Another Creation of J.B. it turned me into a Gold Monster and Loving every minute of it all thru the years !

I think I've had every hobby, interest, and Vice and Detecting for Nuggets is the Finest one of ALL. 👑👍

[Doc]

14 hours ago, dirtman said:

Doc you touched on a sensitive subject for me.

JB's Ouncer Club 🎯👌

When I 1st heard mentioned many years ago It left an impression on me I can't explain.

There was nothing more important in my life after learning about it.

A College Or Special Ed Diploma, Meeting the President, Dinner with a Celebrity, nothing was more important.

I had to Achieve it, it became an obsession to me. Someone could spend the rest of their life trying to detect an ounce or larger nugget and fail completely odds were against it.

I spent years at it and Dam if I didn't Trip the Switch and Beat the odds one day. And By more than double a 2.49 Oz piece.

Looked like Vampire Fangs coming down both sides of it hence the photo in mouth 🤣😂

It was the Vampire Nugget of the Ouncer Club 👍👌

And with multiple witnesses hunting along side me at the time 👍

It was more important to me than any education certificates could be. 

Another Creation of J.B. it turned me into a Gold Monster and Loving every minute of it all thru the years !

I think I've had every hobby, interest, and Vice and Detecting for Nuggets is the Finest one of ALL. 👑👍

Frank,

Do you still live at 3325?

Keep an eye out in your mail box.  I have something I know JB would want you to have to go with that certificate.

Doc

[Mike Furness]

14 hours ago, dirtman said:

And with multiple witnesses hunting along side me at the time 👍

And I was one of those on site witnesses. Frank was having trouble pinpointing the exact location of that nugget in the deep wide hole he had dug. I hollered down to him from above the wash he was in asking if he was on to something. He asked if I had a smaller coil and yes I did so I brought my machine down to him. After a couple of swings and a couple more scoops of dirt he put a handful of dirt into my hand with a huge grin on his face. The nugget was still covered in dirt but I felt the extra weight and knew immediately that he had his target. I wanted to clean the dirt off right away but out of respect I handed the nugget still covered in dirt back to Frank so he would see the first sight of it. Once he saw it there were a few words spewing from his mouth not in anger but pure joy of finding that nugget in the wash. As I recall the hole it came out of was pretty deep. I'm guessing at this point probably about 2 feet ... maybe a bit more. Great find Frank and glad I could share a small part of it with you.