Blake James Coe

Intelligent, funny, quirky, and sweet, Blake James Coe was born in Seattle on April Fool’s Day, 2002. He attended Beginnings Child Care and started kindergarten at his beloved Loyal Heights Elementary School. He and his parents were surrounding by a loving and supportive Loyal Heights community, and Blake loved Loyal Heights school and his teachers there. He played Little League baseball for the Fischer Plumbing team, won a medal in a middle school math Olympiad, learned to speak Japanese, and joined the wrestling team at Ballard High School in his freshman year. He graduated Ballard High School in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To see a video of Blake's life, click here: https://youtu.be/XGsZlWkStjg

He loved the outdoors and youth camp outdoor leadership experiences such as YMCA’s Camp Orkila or the YMCA Boys Outdoor Leadership Development (BOLD) program further fostered that love as well as family camping trips with his parents. For years he was part of the crew for the annual Decatur Northwest Sheep Shear event on Decatur Island and enjoyed working alongside his dad, uncles, and cousin on building projects at Uncle Bob Rowland’s ranch in Pocatello, where he learned to fish. Family vacations were spent in Lake Chelan, Hawaii, Alaska, California, and Mexico.

Blake had a curious and inventive mind and was constantly dismantling electronics and machines to see how they worked to rebuild his own. He loved to invent things and tinker with wood, electronics, liquids, plants, and food. He also had a mind for making money. His annual childhood lemonade and cocoa stands held at Golden Gardens and Green Lake, accompanied by the family dog as a cute marketing attraction, helped him raise money and start a checking account. He raised tomatoes and other vegetables to sell to friends and neighbors, saving up enough money to start an investment account with stocks he researched in Tesla, Disney and others which grew quickly to more than cover any college tuition and expenses.

Throughout his life, Blake was fascinated by the Asian food and culture. He loved to cook and made a mean Pad Thai, but also dabbled in everything from Japanese pancakes and sushi to stir fry. He was a dedicated vegetarian and avid gardener. Blake even made his own Japanese clogs, bought a samurai sword on Amazon, and enjoyed watching Japanese TV programs. And yes, Blake also made his own kombucha.

But the love of Blake’s life was the water—starting out on the family sailboat as a toddler, learning to sail at the Center for Wooden Boats or at sailing camp on Orcas Island with YMCA, taking surfing lessons in Kauai, competing out on Puget Sound on the racing team for Corinthian Yacht Club and dreaming of owning his own boat someday. Along the way he held marina jobs at Yarrow Bay Marina, Freedom Boat Club, Elliott Bay Marina and Windworks Sailing. He was in the Ballard High School Maritime Academy, but it was the Sea Scouts that help Blake grow his love of the water toward a career in maritime aboard the SSS Yankee Clipper.

While with the Sea Scout crew, Blake worked to help maintain the historic Yankee Clipper sailing ship—spending hours with his crew mates working on the ship. He served as a Yankee Clipper crew member for sails to Blake Island, throughout the Puget Sound and on the annual ten-day ‘Long Cruise.’ He also participated in uniform ceremonies and activities such as the Sea Scout Bridge of Honor, Hiltner Inspection, Boat Show, and Seafair Historic Vessel Parade. Blake and a teammate sailed their skiff to place second in Sea Scout Western Region Kelly Cup Regatta in Portland. One of his favorite activities was the annual Fisherman’s Fall Festival where he made a respectable showing in the annual survival suit swim race.

Blake was planning for a career in maritime and accepted into the Seattle Maritime Academy for the fall quarter the day before he passed away.

In addition to his curious nature and drive to explore, Blake had a definite softer and tender side that friends and family observed. He was amused by children and enjoyed babysitting, often bringing out his sweeter side. His family beagle Bailey was a frequent companion on walks or cuddling on the couch. On Valentine’s Day in high school, Blake bought two dozen red roses so he could hand out a single rose to as many classmates as he could so few would feel left out. Friends and family describe Blake as sweet, funny, intelligent, polite, and kind with a love for a good debate. ‘A real character’ is a frequent comment. He was loyal and compassionate and always brought his sense of humor, personality, and opinion to conversations with friends and family.

His parents are devastated at the loss of their handsome, intelligent, courageous, sweet, and loving only child. Jacque and Rusty Coe feel blessed to have 19 loving and special years with this amazing human being, and there was a profound love among them in their ‘party of three.’ The enormous gap in our little family of three will never be filled, and we ask that you remember our beloved lovely son Blake with fond memories, smiles, happiness, and laughter.

An October event is planned to celebrate Blake’s life. In the meantime, Jacque and Rusty welcome memories and anecdotes of Blake be emailed to [email protected]

Those wishing to contribute to organizations in honor of Blake Coe may wish to consider a gift to the following organizations close to his heart; the Sea Scout Yankee Clipper Foundation, Seattle YMCA to benefit Camp Orkila or BOLD & GOLD outdoor leadership programs to support youth personal and leadership development.