Lillian Lee Wake

LILLIAN LEE WAKE

88, a resident of Old Greenwich for over 60 years died suddenly at home on December 14, 2007.

She was born November 7, 1919 in Houston, Texas, the only daughter of A.C. Prophet and Fanny Prophet. She was a graduate of Jack Yates High School and Prairie View A&M University, and had a master's degree in education from Bridgeport University.

Following college Lillian worked as a teacher in Texas, however, this would be short lived. In 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked and not long after Lillian moved to California to assist with the war effort by working in an aircraft manufacturing plant.

While working at the plant her dear friend Ruby from Texas who had married a military MD, Clay, suggested that she visit them at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona to meet a young 1st lieutenant military dentist named Dr. Wendell William Wake.

Lillian and Wendell hit it off. She would visit the base every free weekend and as she put it, they "had a ball" going to clubs, dances, ballgames and driving around Arizona and Mexico in Wendell's old beat up Ford.

Two to three months after first meeting they married, the year was 1943. A short while after their wedding and stints at various bases on the west coast, Wendell was sent over seas. The pair wrote each other every week while Wendell was stationed on the Mariana Island of Tinian. Often the letters would have sand in them, a result of Wendell rolling into a foxhole to take shelter from the frequent bombing of the Japanese.

Wendell took a snap shot of the Enola Gray on August 6, 1945, the day it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima prompting the beginning of the end of WWII and his imminent return to his beloved Lillian. The year was 1945.

Once reunited the pair traveled to Houston to visit Lillian's family, then on the Key West, Florida to visit Wendell's. By 1946 the couple had made their way to Connecticut, living for a short while in New Haven, then in Stamford, before settling to their permanent home in Old Greenwich.

While Wendell ran his dental practice, Lillian taught reading for short while in Stamford before moving on to the Port Chester school system and finally settling in at Purchase Elementary where she worked up until her retirement in 1980. During this period she raised a family, earned a masters degree and enjoyed time spent with her many friends.

Lillian is survived by her beloved husband of 64 years Dr. Wendell William Wake a retired dentist, her much beloved daughter Cheryl Wake and by her grandson John Piedrahita.

She is also survived by her many dear friends whom she loved.

Lillian was a strong and beautiful person who's quick wit and wonderful sense of humor brightened the lives of all those around her. She will be deeply missed by all who were blessed by her warm and radiant presence, kind heart and generous soul.

May she rest in peace.

A memorial service will be held at Saint Saviours Episcopal Church, 350 Sound Beach Ave, Old Greenwich, Connecticut this Friday at 2 PM, December 28, 2007.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the American Human Society.