Joseph Blake

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” -- President Abraham Lincoln, from his First Inaugural Address, 1861.

Joe Blake passed away on February 15, 2022, leaving behind a State full of friends.

Joe had a God-given talent for friendship. His boyish smile lit up every room he ever entered,  and he was the hub around whom circles of people gathered – people of all ages and backgrounds, of wide-ranging views and interests. Motivated by a tireless intellectual curiosity, he brought people together for picnics, to write poetry, to share books, study history, travel to historic sites, solve problems, advance new ideas, to build and support their communities, and to enjoy a martini.

He once said those people he regarded as his own “angels” had provided opportunities for him over time that made his life a fascinating journey. That journey began in Denver on Christmas Eve 1935. He was the second son of John L. and Bernice C. Blake, and from his parents he gained both a love for learning about the world and a deep sense of connection to his Denver community. He lived most of his life in the same zip code. From his Park Hill home as a boy, he could walk to East High School during the week and the Montview Presbyterian Church on Sundays.

Throughout his life, Joe had an ability to put himself in positions where he could create and make changes to benefit his community. As a teen, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout (and later became a Lifetime Trustee of the Denver Area Council of Boy Scouts of America). He was one of two Colorado high school delegates chosen to attend the Boys Nation leadership program in Washington D.C., and there he was elected Boys Nation vice president. At his beloved Denver East High School (“Home of the Angels”), he served as Head Boy and graduated in the class of 1954. The East High counselors urged him to apply to Dartmouth College, and he headed east with a full-ride scholarship to study English Literature, an experience that helped shape his belief in education as a means of opening doors to opportunity. At Dartmouth, he served as class president, and when he graduated in 1958, he was elected to receive the Barrett Cup, presented to the outstanding graduating senior based on a vote of the student body and faculty.

He returned to Colorado and earned his juris doctorate in 1961 from the University of Colorado School of Law, where he served as president of the Student Bar Association.

After college, Joe headed to Washington D.C. to join the FBI and later work as a legislative aide to Colorado Senator Gordon Allott. It was in the nation’s capital that he met Elizabeth Rowland, who was also working as a congressional aide. As a student of history who always wanted to experience it up close, it was only natural that his courtship of Elizabeth involved excursions to Civil War battlefields. He proposed at Manassas, transforming that site of two major Civil War conflicts into the birthplace of a beautiful and enduring partnership. They were married in 1964. When Joe was named the regional administrator for the federal office of Housing and Urban Development, the couple returned to Denver to make their home and raise their children, Anne and Joe, Jr.

Together, they continued to grow the circles of family and friends that rippled across the city, state, and country. Joe Blake was known for making everyone feel like his best friend. Self-effacing and generous, he always centered others. Of course, this meant that anyone meeting him for lunch at a restaurant had to understand that it would take Joe 30 minutes to get to the table, as he checked in with the staff and would inevitably run into other friends along the way.

With his children, and later his grandchildren, he reinforced the recurring themes that resonated through his life: community, leadership, and people. Those themes inspired him throughout a remarkable career. He helped lead the development of Highlands Ranch south of Denver, served for years as the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. He became the first full-time chancellor of the Colorado State University System in 2009 and then continued to work as an active fundraiser and advocate for the university up until his passing.

Yet his commitment to his community extended well beyond his career. Democratic and Republican governors alike called on him to play a leadership role on issues ranging from higher education, air quality, housing, transportation and baseball. He served on the boards of the Denver Zoo, Denver Public Schools Foundation, the Denver Sports Commission, the Porter Hospital Foundation, the Hospice of Saint John Foundation, the Denver Foundation, the Denver Police Foundation, the Centennial Water and Sanitation District, Colorado Concern, and more. He chaired Colorado Wants You, a non-profit created by business and civic leaders to support the military’s operational and combat units in Colorado. He helped spearhead the passage of Referendum C in 2005, and FasTracks in 2004, the nation’s largest, voter-approved public transit expansion. He was part of the group who brought Major League baseball to Colorado. At Colorado State University in Fort Collins, he provided the largest private gift ever to the College of Liberal Arts and created the Blake Leadership Scholars Program to inspire young people with an interest in leadership and community engagement. He also chaired the advisory board for the Master’s in Tourism Management Program.

But more important than his resume, he was a devoted father and grandfather. He spoke to his grandsons almost every day and shared his insights on leadership, education, and hard work. He planned special celebrations for each of their birthdays and wanted to make those times together special for them.

The walls and shelves in Joe’s office at the CSU System were covered with the awards, certificates, and honors he accumulated for his civic and community service. His humility and kindness to others were unfailing, even as he received accolades including induction into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame, the  Denver Business Journal Legacy Award, the El Pomar Foundation Community Leadership Award, the Boy Scouts Distinguished Eagle Award, and the Del Hock Lifetime Achievement Award from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. He was also inducted into the East High Alumni Heritage Hall.

Joe’s credo could be encapsulated in this quotation from Shakespeare’s Richard II:  “I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends.” Joe’s life was a gift to his family and the city and state he loved, and it was undergirded with strong and unbroken bonds of affection that he forged with all those with whom he worked and interacted.

His wife, Elizabeth, brother, Jack, and parents predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter Anne Patterson (Robert), son Joe Blake, Jr. (Michele), and grandchildren Ben and Tom Patterson and Alex and Evan Blake. During the last years of Joe’s life, he was blessed to find love and deep friendship with Jean Anne Hattler, of Denver and Pittsburgh, PA.. With their mutual love of travel, they had fabulous adventures together.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 4 at 2:00 at Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver. Gifts in Joe’s memory may be directed to: Boy Scouts of America, Judi’s House, Montview Presbyterian Church, and the Blake Leadership Scholars at CSU.