This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: TCMitten Surnames: Classification: obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.wisconsin.counties.shawano/17183/mb.ashx Message Board Post: St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) - July 28, 1994 Deceased Name: H. WILLIAM BLAKE, RETIRED BANK HEAD, DIES OF HEMORRHAGE H. William Blake, former board chairman of St. Paul's Northwestern National Bank, was a gentle man who laughed when he was the butt of jokes and never forgot his humble beginnings in Wisconsin. Last summer, he made a final pilgrimage to his boyhood home of Shawano, Wis., where he had been a grocery clerk, filling-station attendant and lumberyard worker. ''He spent six or seven days, just scouting out the places where he had spent time as a boy,'' said a friend, Gordon Lund, of Minneapolis. Blake, 88, died at United Hospital in St. Paul from a cerebral hemorrhage following a bridge game on Tuesday. He was a well-known figure on the local banking scene who was active with such groups as the St. Paul Winter Carnival Association, the St. Paul-area Boy Scouts of America and the St. Paul chapter of the American Red Cross. ''Harv was a prince of a fellow and fun, always fun, with humor that never hurt anyone,'' said Lund, one of a legion of friends who crossed generational lines. Blake and Lund loved to poke fun at each other. At Christmas, Blake might empty a drawer filled with junk and pack it off to his pal. Lund might etch an off-color message on the underside of a cap brim that would be visible when Blake gazed upward. ''I could picture him laughing when he (got the joke),'' Lund said. Blake graduated from the University of Minnesota. He joined the Minnesota Loan and Trust Co.'s estate department in 1929 and became a supervisor in 1931. In 1932 he joined the Empire National Bank (later Northwestern National Bank in St. Paul, and now Norwest Bank) as a vice president, trust officer and board member. He became bank president in 1952. He was elected board chairman in 1968. He retired in 1970, but frequently returned to his office, where he still had a desk. Blake is survived by a daughter, Judith Blake of St. Paul; a son, William of White Bear Lake; and five grandchildren and one great-grandaughter. Services will be at 3 p.m. Aug. 4 at House of Hope Church, 797 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.