PHILIP WADE DRAKE

1922 - 2013

DRAKE, Philip Wade November 12, 1922 - May 18, 2013. Born November 12, 1922 in Newark, New Jersey to Elias Arthur Drake and Jean Elizabeth Glorieux, Phil Drake grew up in Maplewood, N.J. where he attended local schools. His secondary education continued at The Lawrenceville School (1936 – 1941). Phil began his college education at Harvard College in 1941 and then attended Amherst College (January 1942 – March 1942). His college studies were interrupted by World WarII. After the War, Phil returned to Harvard in 1946, graduating in 1948, as a member of the class of '45. Leaving college in his freshman year, Drake enlisted in the Army as a private where he trained initially at Fort Eustis, Virginia and Fort Benning, Georgia. That service took him to North Africa where he joined the 504th Parachute Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division as a rifle platoon leader. He later participated in amphibious landings at Solerno and Anzio on the Italian peninsula and in the winter campaign of 1943/1944 in the hills and rivers surrounding the embattled Abbey at Cassino. Later in the war after returning to Fort Benning, Mr. Drake was reassigned to the Pacific where he joined the 11th Airborne Division. As a rifle company commander in the Philippines in 1945, Mr. Drake's unit secured the Atsugi Air Strip on Honshu Island, Japan, two days in advance of the peace treaty signing on the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Returning to the States in November 1945, Phil resumed his studies and was graduated from Harvard in 1948. Before being recalled to active duty in Korea, June 1950, Mr. Drake was associated briefly with Montgomery Ward in Chicago and National Biscuit in New York City. His tour in Korea was with the 187th Regimental Combat Team, which he joined in October 1950 at Kimpo Air Field, Seoul. Later based at Beppu, Kyushu Island, Japan, the 187th made repeated parachute drops on the Korean Peninsula. During his military service, Phil was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Returning to civilian life in 1952, Phil joined the Specialty Papers Company, Dayton, Ohio. That association led him to New York City to open a national sales office for the company, which he managed for 30 years. In 1977, early retirement took him from Mendham, NJ, to East Dennis, Massachusetts where he had built a cottage in 1956. On Cape Cod, Phil indulged his interests of cat boat sailing, lobstering and raising Labrador Retrievers. Phil was a member of the Fox Club, Harvard; Psi Upsilon Fraternity, Amherst; Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, NY, and most recently Eastward Ho! Country Club, Chatham, MA, where he was a member for 30 years. Phil is survived by three children, David Prange Drake of Great Falls, VA, Nathaniel Arthur Drake of rewster, MA and Marcia Drake Livada of Cape Elizabeth, ME with his former wife, Carol Prange Drake of Yarmouth Port. He is survived by five grandchildren, his sister, Cynthia Drake Hugli, of Brewster, MA and his longtime, dear friend and fellow traveler, Jane Cody Meincke of Chatham, MA. A memorial service for Phil will be held on Thursday, June 6 at 11:00 am at the Saint Christopher's Church, 625 Main Street, Chatham, MA. In lieu of flowers, Phil requested that contributions be made to the Dennis Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 67, East Dennis, MA 02641, www.dennisconservationtrust.org, or to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675, www.woundedwarriorproject.org.