He was a man who believed in the power of education to change lives — one whose Cocoa High “Tiger Pride” was so legendary in Brevard County, the song “Eye of the Tiger” from the movie “Rocky III” played briefly as he was eulogized.
On a blazing hot June morning, Richard “Dick” Blake was honored by family, friends and community leaders at the Cocoa High School stadium named in his honor in 2018.
They gathered on the football field and in the stands to remember, with reverence and with joy, his legacy of “Tiger Pride” as Cocoa High’s former principal — Brevard’s first post-desegregation Black principal — as well as his 40-year tenure serving on Rockledge’s city council.
“He became principal at the age of 44 years old. And if you remember anything about Mr. Blake, that was his permanent age from that point forward,” said Ronald Shaw, reverend of Zion Orthodox Primitive Baptist Church, adding that Blake was always “young and full of life.”
Sheralyn Blake-Jenkins, daughter of RIchard “Dick” Blake, accepts an American flag during the former Cocoa High principal’s funeral at the school’s stadium, which was renamed in his honor in 2018.
“Whether he was at the schoolhouse serving, whether he was at home … somebody was always coming to his house asking him something,” Shaw said.
The Rev. Steve Brock, senior pastor at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, led the service on the football field. Over the course of about an hour and a half, numerous community members with connections to Blake spoke, recalling memories of how he’d shaped education in Brevard and their own individual lives.
Blake’s three children — current Cocoa Mayor Michael Blake, daughter Sheralyn Blake-Jenkins and son Mark Blake — gathered with other family members on the field.
Blake was, Blake-Jenkins told friends and family, “a man who loved everyone.”
“Our dad was the seventh child, and he would frequently ask his mom, ‘Who’s your favorite child?'” she recalled. “So when Michael and I and Mark grew up, we started asking our father, ‘Well, who is your favorite child?’ And he would tell me, ‘Sherilyn, you’re my favorite daughter.’ And I’m saying, ‘Dad, I’m your only daughter.'”
Blake’s legacy: ‘Education is for everyone’
In the days leading up to the service, family members told FLORIDA TODAY they’d been buoyed by the outpouring of love and memories centered on their dad’s legacy — everyone from their father’s former colleagues to students he’d taught and/or coached years before to the Cocoa and Rockledge residents he served for decades.
A Brevard native, Dick Blake was born in 1933 in Bonaventure, a small community just south of Rockledge in Brevard County, into a family of migrant workers.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Claflin University in South Carolina and master’s degrees from Columbia University in New York and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. After returning to Brevard County, he became a teacher and coach at all-Black Monroe High School, where he had played three sports in the 1940s. Later, he helped in the integration of Brevard schools, becoming principal at Cocoa High.
Pallbearers enter the stadium named for Richard “Dick” Blake at Cocoa High School on June 13. The stadium was the site of the funeral for the beloved former Cocoa High principal, known for his work in civil rights, education, civic duty and sports.
Brothers Michael and Mark laughed as they recalled their father’s insistence on his children striving to learn more, do more, be more, urging them toward accomplishment with expressions like “Tighten up” and “Tiger Pride.”
“‘Do a good job’ — that was one of his favorite sayings,'” Mark Blake said. “He’d say, ‘Give it your best. You don’t come half-stepping.’ And I tried to do it. You know as a teenager, you’re going to push the envelope. And I remember when I gave lackluster effort and he got after my tuchus … not a physical thing, but boy, I felt small after he pretty much gave me a sermon.”
The choice of the stadium for the gathering of family and riends was a natural, Mike Blake said, stressing that “there’s no saturation point in education, and Dad was a firm believer in education.”
“That’s why instead of flowers, we asked that people donate to the Dick Blake Scholarship Fund at Cocoa High School … to pay it forward,” he said. “Education is for everyone, for an old country boy straight out of the orange groves of Bonaventure to where he is today … we’re honoring that.”
The family hoped for a true celebration, the brothers agreed, but expected tears of loss to be mixed with tears of joy, “just from the simple fact that he touched a whole lot of folks in a positive way,” Mark said.
And that positivity, they further agreed, was evident in the recollection of joyful memories shared as they planned the service at Richard “Dick” Blake Stadium.
“We called him a trickster in that he loved to laugh,” Mark said. “It was nothing for him to do a prank, or tell a funny joke, with double or triple entendres, and then just flip the script on you, to where you’d be thinking, ‘Wait. What did you just say?'”
Blake’s impact on others: ‘He lifted other people up’
While there were somber moments, the June 13 service was mostly filled with a celebration of his life and his lasting impact on many people.
Thomas Cole, principal and founder of Emma Jewel Charter Academy in Cocoa, spoke of his gratitude for Blake’s help in establishing the school.
“He would guide me in the right direction,” Cole said. “He would listen to me without judgment. He would listen to me with a father’s ear, with passion.”
Neely Dunn, a retired NFL side judge and graduate of Cocoa High, called Blake a mentor. He spoke to him in person shortly before Blake passed, he said.
“He was really an important part of my life, all of my accomplishments, and I was so happy to have an opportunity to thank him for all that he had done for me over the years,” Dunn said, adding that Blake helped him and his wife get into South Carolina State University and obtain jobs as teachers at Cocoa High after they graduated.
“He was very good about helping people and never expecting anything in return.”
Blake’s life exemplified his love for God, said Brock. He called on those in attendance to strive to follow in his footsteps.
“He lived his life in such a way that he lifted other people up,” Brock said. “Can I tell you something? If you’re going to finish strong, and if your story is going to be that you finish the fight, you fought the fight, then you gotta learn to lift other folk up.”
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker. Instagram: @finchwalker_.
Attorney Kendall Moore speaks of Richard “Dick” Blake’s influence on his life during the June 13 funeral for Blake at the Cocoa High stadium named for the former principal. Blake was well known for his work in civil rights, education, civic duty and sports.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Community reflects on life of Richard ‘Dick’ Blake at Cocoa service