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S. Prestley Blake
FEATURE DONOR PROFILE
From left: Pres Blake, Helen Blake and former Head of School Richard C. Malley.
RESTAURANT & ICE CREAM EST. 1935
WILBRAHAM & MONSON ACADEMY BLAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL
S. Prestley Blake, 1914-2021
By Sean Valentine Director of Stewardship & Donor Relations . Prestley Blake, a name well known by anyone associated with Wilbraham & Monson Academy, S died at the age of 106 on Feb. 11, 2021. He was, and his wife Helen Davis Blake still is, a remarkable philanthropist unquestionably dedicated to causes in Western Massachusetts and to WMA specifically. The long list of lives the Blakes have positively impacted is impossible to overstate. In fact, their generosity frequently exceeded normal expectations into the realm of savior for some, including WMA. In 1989, the financial standing of WMA could have been termed dire. The Academy’s merger 18 years earlier had yet to deliver on the intended outcome: to take two weakened schools and create a single robust institution. Annual fundraising and tuition fees were barely meeting the budget, to say nothing of the rapidly compounding interest on $1.8 million in loans needed to keep the school afloat over the previous few years. The closure of the Academy - and thus the end of 185 years of educational history in the Pioneer Valley - was a very real possibility. It was during this critical year that Mr. Richard C. Malley, newly appointed as Head of School, sought an introduction to Mr. Blake. He got it by way of Eric W. Anderson, a WMA Trustee, alumni parent and then CFO of Friendly’s. “I went into Mr. Blake’s office and told him the new Head wanted to meet him,” Mr. Anderson said of the co-founder of Friendly’s Ice Cream. “Pres said, ‘OK, bring him by.’ I reminded Pres that Mr. Malley was likely going to ask him for money, to which he answered, ‘Sure, well, bring him in all the same!’ During our meeting, Pres inquired of Malley how the school was doing financially, and upon being told of our difficulties, he sat back in his chair and said, ‘Let me think about that.’” A few days later, Mr. Blake contacted Mr. Malley with a proposal. If the school could raise or source $800,000, he would donate $1 million; the debt could be cleared and the debt service invested back into the school. It worked. Mr. Blake’s vote of confidence in WMA was the force needed to nudge the Academy away from the precipice. His challenge sent a clear and powerful message: a jolt of lightning through alumni, parents and creditors alike. In a letter to Mr. Blake in August 1990, Mr. Malley wrote, “I don’t believe it is an exaggeration to say that without (you) we would not be opening this fall.” Within four years, through generous donations and renegotiation with banking institutions, Mr. Blake’s challenge was completed. WMA had passed through the most difficult financial period it had ever faced. Said current Head of School Brian P. Easler, “He literally saved the school.” Certainly, this was Mr. Blake’s most impactful contribution to the Academy, but it was not his first and by no means was it his last. In the mid-1970s, he - along with Headmaster Francis M. Casey and WMA Trustees Richard G. Dooley and E. Carroll Stollenwerck - had been instrumental in soliciting The Wallace Foundation to help support the completion of what is now Wallace-Blake Dormitory. Mr. Blake had issued a smaller challenge during the Academy’s “New Decade Fund” in the early 1980s, and had already funded scholarships to the WMA Middle School by the time of his introduction to Mr. Malley.
From left: Pres Blake, Blake Scholarship recipient Chelby J. Wakefield '09 and Helen Blake at Commencement in 2009.
WILBRAHAM CREST MONSON CREST “Most of his gifts were made in the form of a challenge,” Mr. Malley said. “He wanted to give, but he wanted to do so in a way that broadened the base and increased the level of support.”
But, why?
Mr. Blake was a member of the Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1934, not the Academy’s. Neither of his parents attended Monson or Wilbraham academies. None of his children, cousins, nieces or nephews attended either.
The simple answer, at least in the beginning, is proximity. Friendly’s corporate headquarters were based in Wilbraham, a town chosen for that purpose by Mr. Blake specifically because it was a warm, friendly community with good schools and high civic pride. Many students with family ties to the company passed through Rich Hall, and Friendly’s advertisements can be found in many Academy yearbooks. So supporting an institution like Wilbraham Academy fit with the ethos of community support that was a hallmark of the Blake success story.
But it was the merger between Monson and Wilbraham academies in 1971, and the difficult years that followed, that really triggered Mr. Blake’s interest in WMA.
“When Monson Academy closed, Pres learned how devastating it was to have school buildings in the center of the town lie unused,” Mr. Malley said. “He was determined that this would never happen to the town of Wilbraham, the home of Friendly's.”
“Pres loved challenges and he loved projects,’’ Mr. Easler said. “WMA, struggling mightily as it was during that period, presented both. Pres played a pivotal role at a time when the Academy was facing enormous challenges.”
With the completion of the million dollar challenge, it would not have been unreasonable for Mr. and Mrs. Blake to shift their philanthropic priorities elsewhere. Afterall, their gift had removed the likelihood that the school would close and its trajectory was now firmly on the rise. But this is not at all what happened.
For more than 40 years, the Blakes continued to leave their mark on the Academy in ways large and small and always with a desire to help others in the WMA community recognize how they could make WMA stronger.
“Like many of us who did not graduate from WMA, Pres and Helen simply fell in love with this school and this community and chose to make it a part of their life’s work together,” Mr. Easler said.
As Mr. Casey wrote for the dedication of Wallace-Blake Dormitory: “Yes, they have given handsomely of their wealth to us. Had they not, however, believed first, there would have been no reason for their gifts.”
Head of School Brian P. Easler, left, with Helen Blake at the Shenkman Gala 2019.
Pres Blake with former Head of School Rodney LaBrecque
- Helen Davis Blake, WMA Commencement Address, 1999
Rarely was there paperwork associated with the Blake’s donations. They gave their word and that’s all that mattered, but they also expected accountability in return. Mr. Blake had high standards, whether in business or as a philanthropist.
“One day he went to the Friendly shop on Route 5 in Longmeadow,” former Head of School Rodney J. LaBrecque said. “On this day he said he was not treated in a ‘friendly’ manner. He told the manager who he was, that he was quite unhappy with the service, and that everyone in the store was fired as of that minute. They were not good representatives of what ‘Friendly’ meant!”
Mr. Malley can sympathize. “Pres always spoke about ‘holding my feet to the fire,’” he said. “Accepting help is a tremendous responsibility, and the accountability that comes with it is special.”
“He told us what we needed to hear, even when we didn’t want to hear it,” Mr. Easler said. “He inspired us to achieve our best, and he held us accountable when we fell short.”
Mr. and Mrs. Blake never simply contributed money to WMA. Their interest in the school ran much deeper than that.
“Frequently the Heads Office phone would ring out of the blue because Pres had woken up with ‘an idea,’” Mr. Easler said. “He never stopped thinking about us. He was always excited to take calls or visits, to be a sounding board, and source of guidance, wisdom and inspiration.”
Mr. Malley concurred: “He invested in our success. Time and again I received calls at home from Pres that started with, ‘Helen and I have been talking. Have you thought about …?’ Pres was a wonderful partner in the full sense of the word.”
Not that Mr. Blake didn’t know how to have a little fun.
“He liked parking his Rolls Royce in the Morrow House driveway when he visited the school,” Mr. LaBrecque said. “He would say to me that people driving by would be astonished that the Head of School drove a Rolls.”
From left: Trustee Emeritus Eric W. Anderson, Sallie Nesin, Helen Blake and Pres Blake at the LaBrecque Dormitory dedication ceremony. Pres Blake with one of his collection of Rolls Royce automobiles.
- S. Prestley Blake
Mr. Blake's father, Herbert P. Blake, had a saying: “The greatest satisfaction a parent can have is for his offspring to be a credit to himself, his family and his community.” It is impossible not to think that Mr. Blake’s father would be immensely pleased.
“I continue to keep my feet to the fire by trying to live up to the ideals that were central to Pres, his father, Herbert Blake, and to Helen,” Mr. Malley said.
“I will always be grateful for the honor of having known Pres Blake and will always remember the significance of his friendship,” Mr. Easler said.
Today, Mrs. Blake continues their work with the Academy. On Oct. 29, 2021, the S. Prestley and Helen Davis Blake Reading Room was dedicated in the Griffin Athenaeum; the latest chapter in a story that is far from over. Wilbraham & Monson Academy is forever indebted to the generosity and commitment of S. Prestley Blake and Helen Davis Blake.
We are stronger because of them.
WMA is here because of them.
Pres Blake, right, with Head of School Brian P. Easler.
ATHENAEUM
