James W. Blake

James W. Blake, 68, of Oil City passed away on Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, at the Golden Living Center after a long illness.

Born in Brooklyn, NY on April 26, 1947 he was the son of the late James and Louise Blake. By all accounts he was a very shy, sweet little boy who seemed beyond his years and would at times be sad and “ morbid” as his grandmother put it. At the age of three, he was presented with a baby sister,

Pamela Louise. At the age of six, his beloved mother passed away with cancer. He was unfortunately

left in the hands of a very uncaring parent and thus began a very rough and tumble childhood.

When he was eleven, a stepmother and a stepsister joined the household. He spent the next several years protecting his sisters and endured continued physical and emotional abuse. He spent many nights in the car outside of a bar watching his sisters until the bars closed and his “parents” returned. His sister still remembers the pain of watching her brother being abused even during times of illness and always having to “man” up.

While growing up he realized that he was different and couldn't understand the mercurial mood changes he was always experiencing. He felt isolated and alone and was always trying to find approval.

Years later he would be diagnosed with depression and bi-polar disorder, but as a troubled young boy he was at a loss.

At the age of sixteen, his family moved to Denver. Home life remained chaotic and abusive and when he was seventeen, he was an “ear” witness to the shooting death of his stepmother. This sent him over the edge and thus began his successful but short lived life of crime. Short lived because soon after his stepmother's death, he met his future wife and soul mate, Eloise. She became his reason for living and he “straightened up.” Jim was eighteen and Eloise nineteen when on November 12, 1965, they eloped to Idaho Falls, ID, and began an interesting life together which was to last 50 years.

Jim began his educational career by attending Metropolitan Community College, Denver, in 1966 where he received his B.A. in American Literature. While there he was given a position teaching remedial English as a second language and discovered his love of teaching. Jim next went to Univ. of Northern CO in Greeley where he received his M.A. in American Literature.

Between his degree getting, he became a father on July 1, 1968, by the birth of James W. III. He was nineteen and instantly enamored with fatherhood. He had a special love for all children and they for him. He reinvented his childhood through his children and was almost childlike in his pursuit of fun with them. In 1971, he moved his family to NYC to live with his ailing maternal grandfather. Unfortunately, his grandfather passed away before he could be with him but the move was made and he resided in his mother's childhood home in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Shortly after arriving there he had his first and only job interview at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. It was a rough school at the time (his first year there five students died, four from overdoses and one a victim of a shooting), but he positively thrived. He was a favorite of the students and kept order in a class by picking the baddest guy in class and appointing him to keep order. It always worked. He was innovative.

In 1973, the family once again relocated to Port Washington, WI. While Jim attended Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. Although Jim did not attend exclusive schools or necessarily excel where he attended before, several professors at Marquette recognized in him a unique individual with a brilliant mind and he was offered as Assistantship and full tuition. A short two years later, he had completed his coursework and moved on to a temporary full-time position at Memphis State University, Memphis, TN. Before this move, he and his wife were blessed on July 23, 1975, with a second child and first daughter, Mary Alison. While in Memphis, he completed his doctoral studies and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1979.

Before leaving Memphis, on March 21, 1980, a daughter Eileen Louise, was born and quickly swept away to Jamestown, ND. Jim had a successful career during his six years at Jamestown College. He arrived to find the English Department with only two majors and this at a liberal arts college. One year after arriving, he was made department chair and at the end of the first year there were more than 50 students enrolled as English Majors.

In the summer of 1986, Jim accepted a position as Asst. Dean at Marshalltown Community College, in Marshalltown, IA. Here again he made an impact and found himself promoted to Dean after a short time. But his career as an administrator had a rocky start. Being a person who always defied authority, he was always butting heads with other administrators and board members. Although always popular with students, staff and faculty it was inevitable that he would lose his job over what many considered ethical reasons. For him the line between right and wrong was never blurred.

In 1990 he accepted a job as Dean of the Venango Campus of Clarion University. The family settled in Oil City, PA. Here again Jim realized that he was not cut out to be an administrator.

While many thought him to be a good one, it was just not in him to not question. He was by far too brash and impatient to continue on in this work without having a heart attack which he eventually did in 1993. He resigned his position as dean and was admitted to the faculty and once again became what he always wanted in the first place, a teacher. He eventually became a full tenured professor and was content.

Wherever he taught, his classes were always full and there was usually a waiting list to get into his classes. He was sometimes referred to as the “closeout king,” or the lone ranger, because he always went on his own way. Rules were for everyone else, including his own, as his children would say. Every place he ever taught, he was sought after for speeches either in the community or the school.

He was entertaining, unpredictable and highly interesting.

Jim had a thirst for learning and that entailed building up a library of thousands of books with sections in fiction, religion, philosophy, physics, biography, history, mysteries, etc. He knew what books he had and had read most of them.

Although Jim was the first in his family to attend college, and was successful wherever he went in one way or another, his family loved him for other reasons. He broke the cycle of abuse he experiences. He was a loyal husband and friend. A wildly amusing and unique father. Bedtime for his son was having a father that became a robot and would obey his commands by pushing”buttons.” His daughters were not read bed time stories but would be visited by a “creature from the cellar.” There were eight at one time; each with a different voice and personality. One was Sidney a particularly obnoxious, bratty character which gave him full rein to be just that. Some of the characters wore a wig or an old suit picked up at a second hand store.

But his family also saw how he suffered on an almost daily basis with mental illness. He had days when it was all he could do to get out of bed, but he did and tried his best at whatever he was supposed to do. People always noticed his “high energy” but rarely witnessed him in the depths of despair. As a very young man, he could not understand what was wrong and wrote about his changing self in a song: “...and then I turn, and my insides burn. And I feel again the loneliness I was born with.” Even after being diagnosed and understanding more about himself and taking meds, it was a constant struggle.

He was a smart alack (Bugs Bunny was his hero). He was fearless, tenderhearted, he could run like the wind. He hated being the center of attention, but usually was. He had a wicked sense of humor and could make you laugh at things you normally wouldn't. Many troubled students came to him for advice perhaps recognizing in him what they themselves were feeling. He called himself a “nut magnet.” He was never boring.

He had a charisma that was undeniable to those he met. The nobility, honesty and love of the true and good in life made him a beacon for dozens of people who were troubled, lost, or who were seeking a father figure. He had a profound impact on these people even when he was in their lives only briefly.

He will be truly missed and mourned for by his wife of 50 years, Eloise, his son James W. BlakeII, of Reynoldsville, PA; daughters Mary Blake of Tallahassee, FL;Eileen Mast and husband Ben of Easton, PA; a sister Pamela Blake and partner Jim McCartney of Oil City, PA. Also, his granddaughter Sheila Gustafson and fiance Dusin White, of San Diego, CA;Brandy Blake of Pittsburgh, PA; James IV, Michael and Anna Balke of Reynoldsville; and Estelle and Henry Mast, Easton.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at 4:00 P.M. , Tuesday Dec. 22, at St. Joseph's Church, Oil City. Guests will be received at 3:30 before the funeral. Jim requested that he be cremated and will be interred at Calvary Cemetery. Reinsel Funeral Home will handle arrangements.

Condolences may be sent at www,reinselfuneralhome.com In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Jude's Childrens Hospital, Memhis, TN., Shriners Hospital for Children, Wounded Warriors Project or to St. Joseph Church Development Fund.

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