Fr Peter Blake sm

18 May 1937 - 14 Jan 2011

Fr Peter Blake sm

In the final Act of Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar Mark Antony reflects on the life of the slain hero:
“His life was gentle, and elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world
‘This was a man’”
This hero was not slain, but rather has exhausted life after nearly fifty years service in the Church that he loved, in the Society of Mary which he loved, and to the thousands of people whom he loved.
This was indeed a man....

Peter Charles Timoney Blake, born 18 May 1937, raised in Palmerston North, Kumara and Ngahere on the West Coast, Loreto College in Christchurch, St Patrick’s College Silverstream.

Peter Blake was a deeply gentle man, and those of us who lived with him for long periods of time will attest to his care and concern for us, which was all the more genuine for escaping unscathed from an often gruff and apparently hard exterior.

For Peter Blake, faithfulness to his Marist life, to his priesthood, to the people he served is his lasting legacy. He spent 32 years at his beloved Silverstream College,first as a student and later a lengthy period on the staff where he taught many subjects to public exam level, and was top rugby and cricket coach, dormitory master, and Community Superior.
With everything he did in life he applied himself with total commitment.

Peter was briefly Rector of St John’s College, before returning to Silverstream for another stint.
Peter spent the last twenty years of his life in Christchurch, first at St Bedes College’s, then St Mary’s parish, and then at Our Lady of Assumption Parish, Hoon Hay. It was a time of constant struggle with deteriorating health, through which Peter remained optimistic and involved.

Peter would be embarrassed to listen to all this but in the end he would be so happy that so many came to say thank you and pray for him. Peter, may you rest in peace.

from the Eulogy by Mark Walls sm