Edel Faulkner Blanks, Jr., an attorney who was a resident of Monroe for over sixty years, died at home on September 23, 2006. Mr. Blanks was a 1950 graduate of Neville High School and a 1954 graduate of Tulane University, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Upon graduation he was commissioned as an officer in the U. S. Army Transportation Corps. Following his tour of active duty, Mr. Blanks entered Tulane Law School, graduating in 1959. He returned to Monroe and began a 42 year association with the law firm of Shotwell, Brown, and Sperry, retiring as a senior partner. He was a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association. Mr. Blanks was a descendant of a prominent Louisiana family from the early Ouachita River steamboat era. His passions, after his family and many friends, were fishing, golf, and sports of every description, particularly Tulane football. He was also a student of World War II history, especially the European theater. Mr. Blanks lived his life with integrity, dignity, and the courage of his convictions. He was a member of The Lotus Club and The Boston Club of New Orleans. Mr. Blanks is survived by his wife, the former Sophia Rogers Leach of New Orleans, whom he married in 1958; his son and daughter-in-law, Edel Faulkner Blanks III and Bari Lynn Giordano Blanks, his daughter and son-in-law, Sophia Rogers Blanks Griffies and Dr. William Scott Griffies, all of New Orleans, and his sister, Virginia Blanks Simoni, of Atherton, California. He is also survived by three grandchildren, Christian Wolfe Blanks, Colin Edel Blanks, and Elizabeth Rogers Griffies, all of New Orleans. A private family graveside service for Mr. Blanks took place on September 25, 2006 at Riverview Cemetery, with the Rev≠d Canon Gregg L. Riley, Rector, Grace Church, officiating under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home of Monroe. The family gratefully requests that anyone wishing to remember Mr. Blanks in a monetary fashion consider a donation to Grace Church or the Tulane University Athletics Fund, Tulane University, James Wilson Athletics Center, New Orleans, LA 70118.