Wayne Jay Blake

Wayne Jay Blake Obituary
Wayne Jay Blake was born May 28th, 1944, in Kalispell, Montana to William and Louise Blake. Wayne passed away peacefully at home on July 9th, 2023, with his loving wife by his side.

Wayne attended Flathead High School, graduating in 1962. After graduating, he enlisted in the Army and served a total of 15 years.
Wayne worked as a lumber grader for various mills in Montana for over 20 years, until a back injury while training with the National Guard forced him to retire from lumber grading. He then worked for semi tool for a number of years before starting Blakes’s Home Maintenance. He opened his business and drove snow bus until his retirement in 2007.
He met his wife Carol while she was vacationing in Helena, Montano and he was at the Army National Guard drill. They hit it off and were married on February 17th, 1990. Together they enjoyed camping, boating, fishing, and hunting with friends and family. They had season tickets to the Montana Grizzly’s football games and attended them faithfully until they moved to Sahuarita, Arizona.

Wayne loved joking around and pulling pranks on people. He was known as a gentle giant. He loved animals, especially dogs. His faithful dog, Gipsy, preceded him in death. He always had time to pet a dog and loved to feed them treats. There was never a skinny dog when Wayne was around.
In 2012, Wayne and Carol made the decision to sell their house in Montana and move to Sahuarita. They decided to start “camping” during the summer in their daughter’s backyard. They enjoyed many summers watching their grandchildren and great grandson, Tucker, play in the yard. They attended their grandchildren’s high school sporting events, becoming some of their biggest fans. Wayne loved watching Tucker drive his power wheel and later his 4-wheeler over to their camper where he would pretend to be a dinosaur or some other animal. He enjoyed sitting outside watching him jump on the trampoline right outside their camper.

At the time of his passing, he was a member of Desert Hills Lutheran church, The American Legion and the Elks Club.
Wayne was preceded in death by his parents, sons Johan and Michael and his dog Gipsy.
Wayne is survived by his loving wife of 33 years, Carol of Sahuarita, his son Warner and daughter in law Lisa Blake of Kalispell, his daughter Michelle and his son in law Shawn Cady of Columbia Falls, his son Paul Ulberg of Kalispell, and his daughter in law Lorena Blake of Spokane, his brother Ron and his wife Lynda of Bakersfield, California, his grandchildren, Travis, Levi, Kaylee, Nikki, Justin, Tessa, Wyatt, Graceanne, Makayla, Lexi, Jager and Kiya and his great grandsons Tucker, Benjamin and Theodore.
There will be a celebration of life for Wayne at Deserts Hills Lutheran Church in Green Valley on July 22nd at 11:00 am.

He will be interred at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Marana, Arizona at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to a Veterans Charity of your choice.