Blake Launcelot Downing, (1947 - 2016) - ForeverMissed.com Online Memorials

69 years old
Born on March 12, 1947 in Mill Valley, California, United States
Passed away on July 4, 2016 in Palo Alto, California, United States

This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Blake Downing, 69, born on March 12, 1947 and passed away on July 4, 2016. Please take a moment to leave a thought or memory in his honor.

Tributes

Leave a tribute

March 14

Lovely to read your tribute May. I have realized over the years that Blake was a really good father. Just look at his (and your) kids - Lance and Elizabeth. They're wonderful people. And I remember his doting over Tutu and working on a car with Lance. I'm just so sad he didn't live to enjoy his three grandkids, Addie, Grayson and Nico. As kids, he wasn't always a nice big brother to me, but then I think he was lacking a lot of affection and affirmation from our father. I really miss getting together with him, and our various congenial political discussions. Well, memories do keep people we love alive.

March 13

I always enjoyed Blake as a father. He was an amazing story teller to toddler Lance and I wish I had tape recorded some of the stories. They were composed at the moment lying in bed with Lance. He would stay in the bedroom until Lance is fast asleep. With Elizabeth he was always happy to spend time with her. Blake was the one who came up with her nickname of "Tutu". He would play with her face and gently poked at her cheeks while saying "Tutu, Tutu". They both enjoyed bike riding immensely and would frequently take off on his bike. He was a good loving father.

August 26, 2016

Thank you for sharing this Memorial with your many friends. Wish I had known Blake.

July 29, 2016

Dear Blake,

Thanks for always being a loving and supportive uncle. I have great memories from my childhood that come flooding back when I look at all these old photos from the 80s and 90s, of Lance and Elizabeth, Robin, me, May, and my parents, Guy, and Rainy. I have more recent memories of you encouraging me to go to grad school, follow my dreams, and have faith in my own abilities despite some of the mental health challenges that plague us all. If we had been contemporaries, I know we would have enjoyed cycling around France and eating gourmet meals at the end of each day. As it is, I'm comforted by the fact that you lived life to the fullest. I'm also glad that you got to meet Max and sad that you didn't meet your new great-nephew Sam. You will be missed!

Love,

Jesse/Selene and family

July 27, 2016

I have been reaching out to some old, dear friends of my brother Blake, and people respond with wonderful memories and thoughtful sympathy. I particularly like this one from our next-door-neighbor in growing up in Menlo Park, the big brother of our very good friend, Cam Mudd:

Holly

Some may view a person's life through the filters of propriety and
morality and judge it as sad or a failure. But all the people of all
the world's faiths down through the ages agree that the one and only
purpose of our lives is to love; to love each other in spite of all
the powerful forces that seek to prevent us.

I remember sometime back Blake's daughter called Cam for advice on
what she should or could do to help her father who was going through a
particularly difficult time. Cam called me because she knew I had
experienced the same sorts of things he was going through. I can't
remember what I advised but the thing that struck me and that stood
out as Cam described the conversation she'd had was how much Blake's
daughter loved him in spite of the upsetting circumstances. And I
could tell from our conversation yesterday how much you love your
brother in spite of the circumstances.

Love can't happen in a vacuum. It takes two or more for love to
happen. Your love for Blake and his daughter's love for him are living
proof that he loved and how much he loved you both is evident in that
he did so even while powerful forces sought to prevent him.

Blake lived a victorious life because he succeeded at the one and only
thing that matters in this world. Any failures are failures in ways
that don't matter and in the end and are blotted out by the memory of
his love for you both and others he cared about.

Good one Blake. I pray God I can do as well.

Biff

July 26, 2016

Dear Blake,
I met Holly when we were 5 and you were her big 7 year old brother. I'm happy that I had lunch with you this last April after not having spent time with you for many years. I was impressed with your genuineness, kindness, gentleness and humility. Thank you, too, for your wise thoughts about investment. You said that you were happy and so looking forward to the approaching arrival of Lance's sweet little one. You spoke proudly and lovingly of your children,
Much Love to you, your children, and your precious grandbaby,
Heidi

July 25, 2016

Blake, you are a great friend, a mentor, and family to me. You always cared about my life and career ever since we met in 2011. Wish you all the best on a different journey. You will be remembered by all of us.

Leave a Tribute

Recent Tributes

March 14

March 13

August 26, 2016

Thank you for sharing this Memorial with your many friends. Wish I had known Blake.

View all 7 tributes

Gallery

View all 64 items

A thoughtful and caring friend

December 27, 2022

I knew Blake at Stanford in 1974-75 when he was a first-year graduate student in economics. I was then a would-be economics student, unsure how to carry on with my plans for graduate school. Blake was mature, patient, and down to earth, and I was grateful for his advice. Hanging out with Blake, Ashook, whose post appears here, and Naved gave me a sense of the camaraderie that existed among the graduate students, and I was glad to be accepted into the department for the next year. Blake had by then transferred to the Business School, and I saw him only rarely after that. But I will always remember his warmth and welcoming manner.

Stanford Buddies

July 26, 2016

I met Blake and Naved, our great friend, in 1974. They were in the doctoral program in economics at Stanford and I was at the business school, but taking courses in economics. A year late, after much late night conversation, Blake switched to the business school and I to economics. Blake took us into his family, invited us to many Thanksgivings and Christmases with Rainey, Holly and Michael and their children. I left Stanford in 1976 to spend time in India when, unexpectedly, my father died and I acquired new responsibilites. Blake (and May) gave me much needed support in that long difficult period when I was working in New York and finishing my doctoral thesis and later settling into the World Bank. In 1989, he was my best man at my marriage to Melanie. After that, gradually, our paths diverged and we met and talked less frequently, even after I moved back to California in 2000, Marin County, where I live, being far enough from Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto to be a barrier. Nevertheless, I kept track of him, assisted, but not enough, regrettably. I will miss him as one of my closest friends.

Memories

July 25, 2016

I am fortunate to have lots of memories of Blake. A big one was his 60th Birthday lunch. Lots of laughs and a happy time. He enjoyed it a great deal as well.

I first met Blake in about 1990 as I was a neighbor of his friends the Goldbergs. I think that he was an advisor to them besides being a friend.

I remember Blake as being very very bright and equally funny about many things.

I saw Blake on occasion throughout the years. He had this interesting dog Harry who, if memory recalls corectly, acted a bit strange. Not sure how well he got along with Arnold.

I am glad and grateful that Blake was able to see one of his children become married and to meet his first grandchild. The pictures have great meaning now and will into the future.

I am sorry for his passing but happy for the many memories that I have knowing that so many others have even more.

Blake will be remembered by many for so many similar and different reasons. As long as he is remembered, he really isn't gone. He is on a different journey and we are comforted by the thought that maybe we will see him again at some point in the future.

"May his memory be a blessing"

Eugene

Invite others to Blake's website:

Invite by email

Post to your timeline

Share in Messenger

Cookies are disabled :(

Tributes

Leave a Tribute

Invite others to Blake's website: