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“Pete” was born Francis Edward Blake, Jr. to Francis Edward Blake and Myrhl Omega Pate Blake in San Angelo, Texas on March 17, 1945. They moved to Parker, AZ when Pete was 3 years old along with brother Sam.   A sister, Anna Lee, came along a few years later. 
 
Pete excelled in PHS athletics, and Coach Thurman Simmons retired his “30” football jersey after the football season in 1962. Pete graduated from PHS in 1963. He was the first quarterback of the Arizona Western College football team. His coach at the time, Jack Watson, remembered recently that “he was quite an athlete and a great man. He was very special, and someone that I am very proud of.” 
 
Pete transferred to Western Iowa University on a football scholarship. When his draft number came up for the second time, he talked it over with his girlfriend at the time and decided not to ask for a student deferment. He was inducted into the United States Army in April 1966. He married Pamela Jean Davis in November 1966 and sent to Viet Nam December 1966. He rapidly rose through the ranks in Viet Nam and became a Staff Sgt. E-6. On June 3, 1967 while leading his squad in an attack on Viet Cong, they encountered several guerrilla fortifications and engaged in several battles eventually calling in an air strike. During this time, a land mine was tripped, and he was seriously wounded. He was awarded the Silver Star for extraordinary heroism in close combat with a hostile force. After spending several weeks in a field hospital, he was transferred to Japan and eventually home to recover in August 1967. 
 
Pete was honorably discharged from the US Army in May1968. When the couple returned to Parker, Pete went to work at Claypool’s for Pam’s dad, Wally Davis. Expecting their first born in August, finishing college didn’t seem to be very probable. Coach Simmons saw Pete at work one day and asked him if he thought he could still play football. He said he wasn’t sure as his legs had been pretty well blown up. One leg had a severed artery and muscle damage, and the rest of his body was laced with shrapnel, setting off metal detectors in airports the rest of his life. Coach offered to call a buddy of his who was the football coach at Western New Mexico University. He was willing to give Pete a shot at a scholarship. The couple moved to Silver City, New Mexico in August 1968 with their new born son, Sam. Pete went on to play football and baseball for WNMU and graduate in 1971. 
 
The family moved to San Manuel, AZ where Pete taught and coached football and basketball. He received his Masters of Secondary Education from the University of Arizona in 1976. A daughter Tracy was born in 1973. In 1978, the family moved to Holbrook, AZ where Pete was lucky to be able to coach with Coach Simmons and PHS graduates Jamie Simms and Ray Dowdy. Pete took over the football team when Simmons moved on to Phoenix. And, as fate would have it, Simmons met his former players as opponent coaches on the playing field in the State quarter finals. 
 
The Blake family moved back towards their river roots in 1984, and Pete began teaching and coaching at Needles High School. He coached football, basketball and baseball, retiring in 2004. 
 
Pete passed away suddenly at the VA Hospital in Prescott, AZ July 25, 2008. He was 63. He was buried with military honors August 20, 2008 at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.
 
His students and athletes most remember him for his hard work, patriotism and pride. Over the years, many have remarked to him that they learned to honor their country and the American flag because of him. He would wear his uniform to school close to Veterans Day and talk to the students about the meaning of Veterans Day. There is a new flag pole on the Needles High School football field with a plaque dedicated to Pete.
 
Pete came to know the Lord in the months before his death. He was a dedicated family man and loved his family above all else. Giving his daughter away in marriage to Nick was probably one of the hardest things he ever did. In most recent years, his grandsons, Blake and Davis, gave him a lot of joy—so Nick was somewhat forgiven. Right before his death, he was able to be the best man at his son's wedding (to Venessa) where two more grandsons, Gauge and Ethen, were added to the family.
 
Pete had such fond memories of growing up in Parker. He and his buddy, Walt Johnson, would reminisce for hours about their escapades. A tribal member remarked recently that he thought the 3-1 rule was invented so Pete could play in the Indian basketball and baseball tournaments. And many of those he did play in. One of his proudest honors was being invited to be one of the guards for Travis Nopah’s funeral service in the all night ceremony at the CRIT Cry House.
 
He loved history, books, guns, old cars and music. His dad’s family was a pioneer Arizona family. The family liked to visit old Arizona cemeteries looking for grave sites of relatives. 
 
One summer at NAU in Flagstaff Pam struggled with a Military History class she needed for her degree, and Pete read the five books she had to read—just for fun. The next summer he took the class for kicks and earned an A (she had received a B). He got to know the teacher (a VN vet who lost both legs in the war), and they would go shoot pool at a local bar. 
 
Pete was humble. He once asked Pam at one of the Homecoming Teas how people got to be on the PHS Wall of Honor. She chuckled and said, “I don’t know, but I don’t think you have to worry about it.” He laughed, and said, “You’re right.” Well, Pete, guess what, you made it!