Edward E. Blake, 68

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Edward E. Blake, 68, of North Adams died Friday morning, April 29, 2016, at Baystate Medical Center.

Born in North Adams on May 16, 1947, he was the son of the late Harry and Dorothy (Stone) Blake. Ed was raised in Williamstown and graduated from Mount Greylock Regional High School in 1965 and from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1969. While at Wesleyan, Ed was inducted to the Alpha Psi Omega fraternity and ran production for the 4 Tops, the Temptations, We Five, and Brooklyn Bridge.  He initiated, produced and directed a Children’s Theater production of Elves and the Shoemaker. Ed had a lifelong love of music and played washtub bass in a Folk Junkyard Band called “The Swagmen.”

Ed started out as a high school history teacher and switched careers to business, first at General Electric and retiring from General Dynamics after more than 40 years as a Logistics Engineer.

In the 1980s, Ed was a volunteer EMT with Village Ambulance Service. He was devoted to his family and spent a lot of his free time engaging in activities with and for his kids. He umpired minor league baseball and attended numerous baseball, soccer, and rugby games. He also served as a director for the Western Massachusetts Girl Scout Council, Girl Scout leader and site manager for Camp Muriel Flagg in Williamstown.

One of Ed’s greatest passions was building model scale wooden ships. He also built dollhouses for his two granddaughters. Ed left his mark through his attention to detail in the personal additions he made to each piece. His family treasures these works of art that Ed painstakingly built.

Ed was a communicant of St Patrick/St Raphael’s Church in Williamstown.

Besides his wife of 47 years, the former Lynne Gooch, Ed leaves his mother-in-law, Mrs. Anthony (Evelyn) Gooch of North Adams;  two children, his daughter Jennifer Meyer and her husband Timothy of Leonardtown, Md., and his son Christopher and his wife Dawn of Flemington, N.J.; two granddaughters, Blake Meyer of Leonardtown, Md., and Carly Blake of Flemington, N.J.; his brother Steven and his wife Patricia of Shushan, N.Y.; his sister-in-law Judith Lowe of Austin, Texas; and nieces and nephews.  

He was predeceased by his father-in-law Anthony Gooch, his brother-in-law Edward Lowe, sister-in-law Janice Kopanon, and his nephew Anthony Rapps.

Funeral notice: A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, May 6, 2016, at 11 a.m. at St's Patrick & Raphael Church in Williamstown. Burial will take place at a later date.

Calling Hours at the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams, are Friday from 9-10:30 a.m. Memorial donations are suggested for the Berkshire Humane Society through the funeral home.