Fay Blake

Fay Blake, 89, passed away May 17, 2015 at her home in Santa Fe, NM, surrounded by her family. Fay was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, NY and demonstrated unusual intelligence and artistic talent early on. She graduated high school at 15 and got her first job drawing for the Butterick Pattern Company. She studied Advertising Design at Cooper Union in New York City, and held positions in New York in the 1940s and 1950s, including Assistant Director at Shell Oil, and Art Director at Coty, Inc. In the 1950's she moved to Chattanooga, TN and taught art at the University of Chattanooga for two years before returning to New York to work as a freelance artist designing ads for companies such as Pepsi Cola, Ladies Home Journal and General Electric. In 1961, Fay met and married Dr. Henry W. Blake and they moved to Albuquerque. Fay and Henry raised their two children, Eli and Miriam in Albuquerque, and Fay continued her freelance art work, creating designs for numerous local businesses and social/political causes. Her work was featured on the cover of New Mexico Magazine, the KHFM magazine, and the Santa Fe Opera, among others. Fay was active in many Albuquerque organizations, including NM Right To Choose, Planned Parenthood and the Bernalillo County Democratic Party. In the early 1970's, she became interested in "hidden Jews" in New Mexico. She embarked on what would become decades of research into Crypto-Jews of New Mexico, and was credited with laying important groundwork that would be carried on by the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society and several local historians subsequently working in this area. Fay is survived by her son, Eli W. Blake and his wife Tressa Blake, of Joseph City, AZ; her daughter, Miriam Blake and her wife Sue Hine of Santa Fe; granddaughters, Valorie Petersen, Leah Blake and Maranda Blake, and four great-granddaughters. A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at the Congregation Albert Cemetery, located at Fairview Memorial Park at 700 Yale Blvd SE, Albuquerque NM 87106. Memorial contributions may be made to Planned Parenthood (http://plannedparenthood.org ) or to the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society (http://nmjhs.org/product/contribution-to-nmjhs/) FRENCH - Wyoming 7121 Wyoming Blvd. NE (505) 823-9400