Dick Blake

Richard “Dick” Blake, aged 83, passed away peacefully at home in St. Anthony, ID, surrounded by all his loving children—just as he had always hoped.

Dick was born in Pasadena, CA, on August 17, 1942, to Beth and Keith Blake. The family soon moved back home to their roots in St. Anthony, ID, bought a band of sheep, and set about a new life. Dick’s early memories center around the “Sheep Camp.” Along with his dear brother, Brent, they roamed the mountains as young boys. Dick lived by one rule: if the wildlife could walk, crawl, or fly, he should shoot it. He loved spending time with Brent, hunting bear, fishing, and doing just about anything except their primary task: keeping an eye on the sheep.

As a senior in high school, he was at a dance at the old armory, and a friend suggested he ask Rhea Mecham to dance. At the end of the night, he asked to take her home—a gesture that meant something in those days. Thus began a relationship that grew into a love that set the standard for all their posterity to come. They fell deeply in love and never recovered! They were eventually married in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1965 and soon started a family.

Dick graduated from BYU in 1968 with a degree in Biology and began his profession teaching biology and, eventually, chemistry as well at Bonneville High School. After several years, Dick and Brent decided to seek their fortune as farmers and began Blake Brothers Farm. For over a decade, the farm was a crucible that both bonded and tested the Blake families. These years were rife with both happiness and difficulty. After several consecutive years of bad pricing and frosted potatoes, the farming business sank. The brothers concluded that teaching the Krebs cycle and stoichiometry was easier and more profitable than trying to grow potatoes, and back to teaching they went. Dick retired as a teacher in 2005.

Dick loved life and had many hobbies: gardening, bird-watching, Dutch oven cooking, BYU football, South Fremont wrestling, and fishing. He participated in several community plays and loved dancing with Rhea. But one hobby stands above them all. Dick’s obsessive and undying passion for firearms predated his conscious memory. He wanted to paw at the stock of a gun from the time he could heft one. In adulthood, he lost all interest in shedding animal blood and shifted his attention to competitive high-power rifle shooting. Soon his sons, his son-in-law Greg, and his nephew Brig were all sucked into his shooting orbit, driving to out-of-state competitions and yearly to the National Championship Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. Dick achieved the marksmanship ranking of Master and set an NRA National Record for marksmanship in his age group.

One of the great defining aspects of Dick’s life was his relationship to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Northern California from 1961 to 1963. With the guiding light of faith, his home was oriented around the gospel. He loved serving in Church callings, especially those that enabled service opportunities, connecting with youth, and teaching. While he was a teacher by vocation, Dick loved teaching in a gospel context the most and relished transformative spiritual conversations.

For Dick and Rhea, family trumped all. They loved spending time with, and being surrounded by, their children and grandchildren: playing, connecting, sharing, and laughing. They were infatuated with each other for the entirety of their mortal lives. Their relationship was playful, cute, and affectionate. After Rhea passed in 2021, Dick was profoundly crestfallen. He dedicated his time afterward to attending the temple and caring for his daughter Lisa.

Dick was easy to talk to and easy to love: a humble, jovial, enormously generous man. A storyteller, a tease, and an eye that looked upon the heart. Quick to laugh and quick to forgive. We will deeply miss our dear father, grandpa, and friend.

Dick is preceded in death by his wife, Rhea, and is survived by his children: Alison (Greg) Lewis, Frank (Deborah) Blake, Lisa Blake, Todd (Katrina) Blake, Les (Christy) Blake, and Addie (Jeremy) Stone.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 11, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at the St. Anthony Stake Center, 247 E. 4th N. The family will receive friends on Friday from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m., both at the Stake Center. Burial will be in the Parker Cemetery under the direction of Bert Flamm Mortuary. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.flammfh.com.