Obituary of Dorothy May Blake

Dorothy M. Blake, 94, the widow of James A. Blake, Jr., passed away on Thursday, July 21, 2016 in Danbury, Connecticut, with family by her side. Dorothy (Dot) was born on December 16, 1921 in Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of George F. Terpenning and Catherine E. Terpenning. She graduated from New Rochelle High School and earned an Associate Degree at Penn Hall Junior College. She married James A. Blake, Jr. (Jim) on December 2, 1944 in New Rochelle, New York. While living in New Rochelle, Dot was president of the New Rochelle Junior Women’s Club and, later, president of the Westchester County Junior Women’s Clubs. She joined the Westchester County Women’s Club at age 30 and became editor of the club magazine. Dot and Jim later moved to New Jersey. There Dot joined the Crestmont League of Deborah Hospital, did volunteer work at East Orange General Hospital, and served on the board of Valley Settlement House, the oldest settlement house in New Jersey. In 1970, Dot and Jim moved to her parents’ farm home on Obtuse Hill Road in Brookfield, Connecticut, where Dot had spent many summers. Dot was active at St. Paul’s Church in Brookfield, serving in the Altar Guild there, and later as president of the Episcopal Churchwomen at St. Paul’s. Dot was also a member of the Danbury chapter of Child and Family Services. She co-chaired the Brookfield service unit of the Salvation Army. Dot was also an active member of the Brookfield Republican Women’s Club, serving as president for five years. With Dot’s interest in Brookfield history, she was a Life Member of the Brookfield Historical Society. She served four terms on the Brookfield Commission on Aging, and was a member of the Friends of the Brookfield Library. Dot was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, her infant sons, James and Christopher, her parents, her sister, Ruth T. Rowland, and her husband Van, her brother, George C. Terpenning, and his wife Nancy, and George and Nancy’s son, George. Dot is survived by Ruth and Van’s daughter, Joanne Gates of Wells, Maine, by Joanne’s daughter and granddaughter, Jessica Healy and Antonia Daley, of Portland, Maine, and by George and Nancy’s daughter, Lisa M. Clark and her husband, Frederick P. Clark, of Durham, Connecticut. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law Margaret Blake Connors and Nell Blake, and by many loving nieces and nephews and their children on her late husband’s side. Dot is also survived her very dear friends and former neighbors, Phyllis and George Chaber of Brookfield. Dot spent the last six years of her life at Filosa Nursing & Rehabilitation in Danbury, and her family is deeply grateful for the many years of loving care given to Dot by the staff there, and for the faithful friends who regularly visited her there. The Burial Rite will be offered on Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 174 Whisconier Road, Brookfield, Connecticut 06804. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Paul’s Church in Dot’s memory.