He was born on August 23, 1921, in Princeton, NJ, to William Caleb Blake and Katherine McGuire Blake. He graduated from Princeton High School and then spent a postgraduate year at Blair Academy in Blairstown, NJ. In 1941 he entered Villanova University, but his studies were interrupted when he enlisted in the Army during World War II. Serving in the Army Air Corp (now the Air Force), he spent his time in training, stationed at numerous bases around the United States. He returned to Villanova and graduated in 1946.
In June 1947 he married Sally Weiser of Lawrenceville, NJ. They settled in Lawrenceville and raised three children. He served for many years as the head of the Department of Public Health for the Borough of Princeton and the surrounding area.
In June 1980 Dave and Sally retired to Naples, where they had vacationed since the mid-1950s. They had built a house in Park Shore in 1974. In 2000 they moved to Bentley Village. They loved Naples and had a wonderful community of friends, many of whom also moved to Bentley Village. Many, like Dave and Sally, were avid golfers.
Dave loved the outdoors. In Lawrenceville, they lived in the country and raised horses and dogs—all pets—and pheasants and quail. He and a circle of friends hunted game birds, and for a number of years, they made an annual trip to South Carolina to hunt for quail.
One of the joys of his life, especially in later years, was college sports. Suffering from macular degeneration and losing his vision didn’t stop him from listening to sports on TV—especially college basketball and most especially when the Villanova Wildcats were playing. To the end, he could give play-by-play accounts the next day, amazing everyone.
In 1999 their daughter Teresa (Terry) Blake Miller, who had moved to Naples, died of cancer, leaving two sons, Blake (then 16) and Chip (then 12). Dave and Sally were devoted, active, and engaged grandparents, and the boys have made their grandparents extremely proud.
Sally died in 2010. Dave is survived by a daughter, Katherine Blake of New York City, and a son, Charles (Chuck) W. Blake of Altamonte Springs, FL. In addition to grandsons B. Blake Miller and his wife, Molly, of Hoboken, NJ, and Charles (Chip) A. Miller and his wife, Julia, of Bethesda, MD, he is survived by grandson Spencer P. Blake and granddaughter Skylar G. Blake, both teenagers and both of Longwood FL.
A small memorial gathering will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church (Brewster Hall) in Naples on February 2 at 3:30.
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