C.E. “Pete” Blake
Mr. Clarence Eugene Blake, Jr. (“Pete”) of Ackerman, MS and Sylva, NC died Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at Oktibbeha County Regional Hospital in Starkville, MS.
Mr. Blake was born November 23, 1923, in Monroe county, MS near Nettleton to the late C. E. Blake, Sr. and Callie Marie Greenwood. After his family moved to Alabama during The Great Depression, Mr. Blake graduated from Montevallo High School in 1940.
Mr. Blake was preceded in death by Mary Brown Blake, his wife of 60+ years, as well as two grandchildren, Christopher Eugene Blake and Carrie Alicia Pullen Pierce.
He is survived by two children, C. E. “Randy” Blake, Jr. and Deborah Marie Blake, as well as two great grandchildren, Preston Lee Hiram Pierce, III and Taylor Leigh Pierce.
During WWII Mr. Blake served in the Army Air Corp, 5th Air Force, 384th Air Service Group, 600th Engineering Squadron. During his military service, he served in the Pacific Theater, mostly on Leyte Island and later in Japan where he served in the American force that occupied Japan after the War.
In the late 1940's Mr. Blake and his wife moved to Ackerman where he worked for Ackerman Furniture Company. In 1968 he was hired by the newly-opened Golden Triangle Campus of East MS Community College, then known as Golden Triangle Vocational-Technical Center. In the beginning, he designed and taught the one-year Electricity program which he later helped expand to a two-year associate degree program. During his tenure at EMCC, he completed his bachelor's degree at Mississippi State University and had the distinction of being selected the MS Postsecondary Vocational Educator of the Year.
Mr. Blake was a lifelong member of the Veterans' of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. He was a longtime Sunday School teacher at Ackerman Baptist Church and was a member of Enon Cumberland Church in Ackerman, MS. at the time of his death.
Mr. Blake, as did his wife, chose to donate his body to medical science with the Genesis organization in Memphis, TN. Graveside services will be held in Ackerman in approximately 9 to 12 months.
In Lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Enon Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 9000 MS Hwy 12 East, Ackerman, MS 39735, the National WWII Museum at 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, or a charity of your choosing.