Richard Blake

Richard Earl Blake went to be with his Lord and Savior September 12, 2015 at the age of 84. He was born to Edwin Earl and Violet Minnie (Phar) Blake May 26, 1931, in a log cabin his grandfather helped build on a bench of land in the hills six miles above Orofino, Idaho. He was eighth in a family of eight girls and four boys. Richard climbed 3/4 of a mile uphill to the one-room Blake School #11 for two years, and then attended school in Orofino until the family moved to Walla Walla in 1944. He graduated from Wa Hi in 1951 and from Prairie Bible College in Alberta, Canada in 1955. He spent over two years on the staff of Pacific Coast Children’s Mission on Quadra Island, B.C., Canada. Following more than five months as a patient at Edgecliff TB Sanatorium in Spokane, he returned to Walla Walla, earning a teaching degree from what is now Walla Walla University. Richard taught school 13 years – one year in Umapine, Oregon, four at a private Christian school in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, and eight years in Toppenish before becoming an elementary school librarian. He served in the latter capacity for 18 years at the Kirkwood/Mt. Adams complex in Toppenish. He retired in 1993 to continue work as a member of Gideons International and in various capacities with the Toppenish First Church of God until it closed in April of 2007. Following the church closure, he became actively involved in the Zillah Church of the Nazarene. In 1965 he married Marsha Schemmer, a Toppenish teacher who shared his love for God and his passion for serving as a lay worker in the church. Richard enjoyed gleaning fruit and other items for family use and to share with others. He was known for loom knitting hundreds of caps and donating them to area charities as well as sending them around the world in Franklin Graham’s Operation Chrismas Child shoeboxes. Richard was preceded in death by his parents, five sisters, Rebecca Harper of Wilbur, Arbara Miller of Richland, Barbara Miller of Seattle, Esther Duff of Ritzville and Pansy Zuercher of Dayton, and two brothers, Edwin W. Blake of Orofino, Idaho and Cloyd Blake of Ritzville. Surviving relatives include his wife of 50 years, Marsha; one brother, Maurice Blake (Helen) of Ridgefield; three sisters, Lyla Behrens (Harry) of Townsend, MT, Darlene (Wes) Ulbricht of Moses Lake and Rachel (Fred) Clark of Dayton, WA; two daughters, Kimi Martinez of Bend, OR and Heidi Fisher of Zillah; one grandson, Michael Martinez; six granddaughters, Stephanie Martinez, Carizma Martinez, Alicia Martinez, Desirae Church, Shyanne Church and Mirage Fisher; four great grandchildren, Cayden, Keenyn, Irelynn and Harley; and numerous nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at the Zillah Church of the Nazarene Saturday, October 3, at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Gideons International for the purchase of Bibles, to Operation Christmas Child (a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse) and to Cottage in the Meadow, where he received loving care the last week of his life. The interment will be in the Blake family plot in the pioneer Weismen Cemetery located close to the area where he was born in the hills above Orofino, Idaho. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Richard Blake, please visit our flower store.