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Blair put his entomological skills to use with his Blair Laboratories pesticide business, which he operated for many years in Alexandria. Daughter Rebecca Tisdale said that her father was too independent to work for others; so he chose self-employment in farming and pesticides. She said that her father struggled as a youth and was dismissed as "white trash" because of his poverty. Such obstacles made him exceptionally determined to succeed: he was the kind of man who could not easily accept rejection. His life story fits the [[Horatio Alger]] mode<ref name=statement>Statement of Rebecca Blair Tisdale of Alexandria.</ref>

Blair put his entomological skills to use with his Blair Laboratories pesticide business, which he operated for many years in Alexandria. Daughter Rebecca Tisdale said that her father was too independent to work for others; so he chose self-employment in farming and pesticides. She said that her father struggled as a youth and was dismissed as "white trash" because of his poverty. Such obstacles made him exceptionally determined to succeed: he was the kind of man who could not easily accept rejection. His life story fits the [[Horatio Alger]] mode<ref name=statement>Statement of Rebecca Blair Tisdale of Alexandria.</ref>

Blair was active in community affairs, having been a former president of the AlexandriaPineville [[Chamber of Commerce]] and Kiwanis International. In the late 1950s, while he was returning from church with his family when the Blairs resided in the Paradise community, he once saved from [[drowning]] two young men that he saw floundering in the Red River from an overturned boat.​<ref name=statement/>

Blair was active in community affairs, having been a former president of the Alexandria-Pineville [[Chamber of Commerce]] and Kiwanis International. In the late 1950s, while he was returning from church with his family when the Blairs resided in the Paradise community, he once saved from [[drowning]] two young men that he saw floundering in the Red River from an overturned boat.​<ref name=statement/>

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Blair, who had smoked [[cigar]]s since he was a teenager, died of [[heart]] failure at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. He had undergone open-heart surgery for a valve replacement. While he appeared to have recovered from the surgery itself, his systems shut down thereafter. Politicos from throughout central Louisiana attended the funeral, including legendary attorney Camille F. Gravel, Jr., Rapides Parish [[Sheriff]] William Earl Hilton, then Alexandria Mayor Randolph, who had ended Blair's Senate career, and District Attorney [[Jam Downs|James Crawford "Jam" Downs]], the son of Blair's old rival, C. H. "Sammy" Downs.<ref name=bannister>Steve Bannister, "Farewell: Cecil Blair Was an Original," ''Alexandria Town Talk,'' July 11, 2001,  1.</ref>

Blair, who had smoked [[cigar]]s since he was a teenager, died of [[heart]] failure at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. He had undergone open-heart surgery for a valve replacement. While he appeared to have recovered from the surgery itself, his systems shut down thereafter. Politicos from throughout central Louisiana attended the funeral, including legendary attorney Camille F. Gravel, Jr., Rapides Parish [[Sheriff]] William Earl Hilton, then Alexandria Mayor Randolph, who had ended Blair's Senate career, and District Attorney [[Jam Downs|James Crawford "Jam" Downs]], the son of Blair's old rival, C. H. "Sammy" Downs.<ref name=bannister>Steve Bannister, "Farewell: Cecil Blair Was an Original," ''Alexandria Town Talk,'' July 11, 2001,  1.</ref>