Blake D. Prescott

NEWFANE, VT.

At 91, Blake Daniels Prescott's love affair with life ended. Known variously as Papa Doc, Chick, Papa, The Pirate, Dad, Uncle, the Good Doctor, and Doctor Do-As-He-Pleases, Blake relished inhabiting the many roles he played in the many lives he touched. The self-portrait he drew for his obituary was fashioned from a photograph taken when he was a toddler and featured his favorite footwear - cowboy boots. Worn throughout his life, Blake's cowboy boots added an inch of stature and kept the little boy within riding to the end.

Blake was raised in Hartford and Wethersfield, CT and East Longmeadow, MA by his psychiatrist father, Blake Sr., and his artist mother, Mell Peterson. He accompanied them on fly fishing journeys even as a toddler, (though not necessarily in cowboy boots), sparking a lifelong passion for the natural world. His insatiable curiosity forever at play, Blake became a master ichthyologist, entomologist, ornithologist, arborist, geologist, and botanist. One of his last acts, together with his wife of 68 years, was to plant four carefully selected, seedless, (so as to be non-invasive), Euonymous alatus on their Vermont property.

Blake often referred to his wife, Helen Hagopian Prescott, as his savior, and indeed she was on more than one occasion. Their innumerable adventures included skiing, fly fishing, restoring old houses, landscaping, gardening, antiquing, collecting, battling at Scrabble, cribbage or cards, and traveling to six continents. Helen's intelligence, linguistic prowess, artistic gifts, incomparable Armenian cooking, and grace enhanced every quest. Together they raised four daughters, Jenna, Lynette, Heather, and Roxanne, each of whom may be found pining for some fraction of their parents' talents. Helen and Blake were further blessed with sons-in-law, Michael (Lynette) and Elia (Roxanne), and special grandsons, Kyle, Blake, Matthis, and Corey. The grandsons indulged Papa's storytelling and delighted in the magical evaporation of years between them.

Blake graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University, and was president of the honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha. He earned a graduate fellowship in neuropsychiatry at The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut, where his father, Blake Sr., had also practiced. Choosing to become a family physician allowed Blake to practice medicine with the most comprehensive lens, drawing on his broad clinical skills, diagnostic acumen, rigorous standards, and complete devotion to the patient. He taught at a half dozen medical schools, wrote one of the first texts for nurse practitioners while Chair of Primary Care, and worked with representatives of Yale and the University of Connecticut Health Center to develop a community program for improving primary care in rural Connecticut. He taught courses for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical students, and resident physicians from his model practice in Storrs, CT. Blake was Director of Health for two towns and while at Windham Community Memorial Hospital, he was Chief of Family Practice, Chief of Primary Care, founder and Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Toward the end of his professional career, Blake added Geriatrics to his many board certifications.

Blake had published research while at McGill and continued publishing clinical papers while in Storrs. He wrote a historical novel, titled The Saturnian Snake depicting the evolution and devolution of primary care in the 20th century in the United States, and penned short stories and articles which further addressed the problems incurred by third party intervention in medicine.

Recreationally, Blake plied his fly-fishing skills from northern Labrador to Tierra del Fuego, from Alaska to New Zealand, and from still waters to those most turbulent. Like his father, he used a purist form with elaborate equipment. Fishing always incorporated a broader appreciation of the faunal and floral wonders of each particular trip. Helen was his most stalwart and intrepid companion; together, they also had the good fortune to share such trips with the next two generations, whether in Maine, Montana, or Alaska.

Blake's talents knew no bounds. His pencil drawings married anatomy and mythology; he wrote and published fiction, including Love in the Wake of COVID-19 and Short Stories, Tall Tales and Surprise Endings. His sense of humor and hearty laugh entertained and captivated. He could provide an exegesis on most any topic, requested or not, from world religions to tall case clocks, from chess to medicine, always medicine. He was a voracious reader and those he loved, even those he encountered by chance, were the fortunate beneficiaries of his most curious mind. We will miss him every day.

In memory of Blake and Helen, the family invites you to plant your favorite tree, donate to Grace Cottage Hospital or Moore Free Library.

Blake Daniels Prescott