Catherine K Blake

tions, died yesterday at home.

Born Catherine Karnas in Manhattan, she moved to West Brighton in 1955.

Mrs. Blake worked for 18 years for the city Sanitation Department, first at City Hall in Manhattan and later Borough Hall in St. George. She began as a clerk and retired as a supervisor in 1985.

During World War II, she worked for Bell Labs in Manhattan. After her marriage, while she was raising her family, she was a child-care provider in her home. She remained close to many of the now-grown children she once cared for.

“Mom was devoted to church, family and her children. Her family was her passion,” said her son, Robert (Bobby).

After retiring, Mrs. Blake gave generously of her time and energy for some 20 years, volunteering for Meals on Wheels at its office in Port Richmond, and for the Staten Island Mental Health Society Thrift Shop in West Brighton.

Deeply religious, she was a parishioner for 55 years at Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church, West Brighton, where she belonged to the Mothers’ Guild and the St. Joseph’s Guild.

Her husband of 53 years, Francis J., died in 1998. Her son, John C., died in 2009.

Surviving, along with her son, Robert, are her son, Lawrence J.; her daughter, Catherine V. Blake; six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be Saturday from the Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners, with a mass at 11 a.m. in Blessed Sacrament Church. Burial will follow in St. Peter’s Cemetery, West Brighton.