Hayward Blake

1938 - 2024

Hayward Blake
10/28/1938 - 04/12/2024
Hayward Harrison Blake Jr. was born October 28, 1938, in Sacramento to Charlotte and Hayward Sr. His brother Bill was two years his senior, and sister Jane eight years his junior. He grew up swimming and playing tennis at the Sutter Lawn Tennis Club. He worked at Blake's Dairy, learning the ice cream business. He joined the Army and served in Germany. On his return he married Gloria; they had three children, Hayward III, Isabella and Philip and lived in Oakland. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in political science, he worked as an insurance investigator, later going out on his own as a private investigator and never stopped working. After Hayward and Gloria divorced, Helen Anderson became his partner of 44 years. He had a passionate interest in politics and English history; in 1989 he took a three months' sabbatical in London, doing research in the British Library and writing a monograph on the Restoration period. In addition to investigative work and political participation, Hayward took on multiple volunteer jobs, working on median strips, schools, libraries and parks; his "second home" was Dimond Park, where he cleared brush, pulled up stumps and worked to prevent wildfire. He was named Local Hero by then-City Councilperson Jean Quan for all of his volunteer accomplishments. He is survived by Helen, three children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations could be made to his favorite charities: Catholic Services, Friends of the Oakland Public Library, or Friends of Dimond Park.