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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, August 16, 2015 from 2-6 PM. Funeral Services will be held at the First Reformed Church, 529 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ at 10 AM on Monday, August 17, 2015. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.
Peter R. Blake, Jr., age 73, of Vernon died on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at his home. He had been a pharmacist throughout his career and owned Mark Pharmacy in Wayne for over twenty two-years.
Peter was born in Newark, NJ and grew up in Lincoln Park. He graduated from Boonton High School with the class of 1960 and was passionate about maintaining alumni relations and organizing class reunions. He began his college career at Columbia University learning to be a pharmacist. The tuition was very expensive and he worked his way through one course at a time. He even won a boat in a raffle on the Jersey Shore boardwalk but took the cash prize instead to pay his college tuition. He was eventually persuaded to transfer to the University of Florida in Gainesville where the tuition was much less expensive. He graduated with his degree in Pharmacy in 1967. After a few years of practice, he became a partner in a pharmacy in Franklin, NJ and eventually purchased Mark Pharmacy in Wayne in the mid-1970’s. As the business grew, Pete bought the former Park View Funeral Home building at 38 Mountain View Boulevard, Wayne and transformed that into the new Mark Pharmacy which operated there until 1997. Pete proudly built that business not by making ‘customers,’ but by making ‘friends’ with the countless people who depended upon him. Of course, it also helped that he was a great talker and took a personal interest in getting to know everyone. He was a selfless man, which many of his customers know through his acts of kindness.
Pete was also a very skilled craftsman. He could do plumbing, electrical, carpentry... just about anything. He built his own log home up in the Adirondacks, starting with the excavating. He had no plans of hiring someone to dig and move dirt – instead he purchased two broken machines; a bulldozer and excavator. He read repair manuals, fixed them up, and did all the excavating work himself. He acted as his own general contractor and saw the project through every phase of construction. He loved that home and he, his family and his friends created many wonderful memories there.
Pete met his wife, Peggy MacQueen, in early 1964. They were set up on a date by mutual friends and they hit it off from the start. Pete took Peg to a dance at Columbia University for their first date and the rest is history. They married on December 4, 1965 at the First Reformed Church in Pompton Plains with a reception that followed right there in Friendship Hall. There was no time for a honeymoon; they packed up and moved to Florida so Pete could start classes in Gainesville that same month. They would have been celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this coming December. Pete and Peggy remained deeply in love throughout their marriage. They were not just husband and wife. They were best friends.
Pete’s family was his greatest joy. Pete is survived by his loving wife Margaret “Peggy” Blake of Vernon, his three sons; Kurt Blake of York, PA, Scott Blake and his wife Janel of Ramsey, NJ, and Jeff Blake and his wife Jeannene of West Milford, NJ, eight grandchildren; Spencer and Marita Blake of York, PA, Ben, Jeremy, and Maggie Rae Blake of Ramsey, and Liam, Hannah, and Riley McGill of West Milford, and by three sisters; Alice Arvilla Blake of Rockledge, FL, Cynthia Costello of Cedar Creek, TX, and Elizabeth Moscatello of Lincoln Park, NJ, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased in April by his daughter-in-law; Angela N. Dobrinoff-Blake of York, PA.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Pete’s honor would be appreciated to the Healing NET Foundation, 817 3rd Ave N #306, Nashville, TN 37201, www.thehealingnet.org, or to Pete’s church; The First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains, 529 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, August 16, 2015 from 2-6 PM. Funeral Services will be held at the First Reformed Church, 529 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ at 10 AM on Monday, August 17, 2015. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, August 16, 2015 from 2-6 PM. Funeral Services will be held at the First Reformed Church, 529 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ at 10 AM on Monday, August 17, 2015. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.
Peter R. Blake, Jr., age 73, of Vernon died on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at his home. He had been a pharmacist throughout his career and owned Mark Pharmacy in Wayne for over twenty two-years.
Peter was born in Newark, NJ and grew up in Lincoln Park. He graduated from Boonton High School with the class of 1960 and was passionate about maintaining alumni relations and organizing class reunions. He began his college career at Columbia University learning to be a pharmacist. The tuition was very expensive and he worked his way through one course at a time. He even won a boat in a raffle on the Jersey Shore boardwalk but took the cash prize instead to pay his college tuition. He was eventually persuaded to transfer to the University of Florida in Gainesville where the tuition was much less expensive. He graduated with his degree in Pharmacy in 1967. After a few years of practice, he became a partner in a pharmacy in Franklin, NJ and eventually purchased Mark Pharmacy in Wayne in the mid-1970’s. As the business grew, Pete bought the former Park View Funeral Home building at 38 Mountain View Boulevard, Wayne and transformed that into the new Mark Pharmacy which operated there until 1997. Pete proudly built that business not by making ‘customers,’ but by making ‘friends’ with the countless people who depended upon him. Of course, it also helped that he was a great talker and took a personal interest in getting to know everyone. He was a selfless man, which many of his customers know through his acts of kindness.
Pete was also a very skilled craftsman. He could do plumbing, electrical, carpentry... just about anything. He built his own log home up in the Adirondacks, starting with the excavating. He had no plans of hiring someone to dig and move dirt – instead he purchased two broken machines; a bulldozer and excavator. He read repair manuals, fixed them up, and did all the excavating work himself. He acted as his own general contractor and saw the project through every phase of construction. He loved that home and he, his family and his friends created many wonderful memories there.
Pete met his wife, Peggy MacQueen, in early 1964. They were set up on a date by mutual friends and they hit it off from the start. Pete took Peg to a dance at Columbia University for their first date and the rest is history. They married on December 4, 1965 at the First Reformed Church in Pompton Plains with a reception that followed right there in Friendship Hall. There was no time for a honeymoon; they packed up and moved to Florida so Pete could start classes in Gainesville that same month. They would have been celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this coming December. Pete and Peggy remained deeply in love throughout their marriage. They were not just husband and wife. They were best friends.
Pete’s family was his greatest joy. Pete is survived by his loving wife Margaret “Peggy” Blake of Vernon, his three sons; Kurt Blake of York, PA, Scott Blake and his wife Janel of Ramsey, NJ, and Jeff Blake and his wife Jeannene of West Milford, NJ, eight grandchildren; Spencer and Marita Blake of York, PA, Ben, Jeremy, and Maggie Rae Blake of Ramsey, and Liam, Hannah, and Riley McGill of West Milford, and by three sisters; Alice Arvilla Blake of Rockledge, FL, Cynthia Costello of Cedar Creek, TX, and Elizabeth Moscatello of Lincoln Park, NJ, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased in April by his daughter-in-law; Angela N. Dobrinoff-Blake of York, PA.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Pete’s honor would be appreciated to the Healing NET Foundation, 817 3rd Ave N #306, Nashville, TN 37201, www.thehealingnet.org, or to Pete’s church; The First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains, 529 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444.
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