Helen D. Blake
Past President
Helen Blake and her husband, S. Prestley Blake, co-founder of Friendly Ice Cream, live in Stuart, Fl, and Somers, CT. Helen is a retired math teacher. She attended Quinnipiac University ( A.A.), Bates College (B.S. chemistry), Springfield College (M.Ed.), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (graduate work in mathematics), and was awarded honorary doctorates by Our Lady of the Elms College, Springfield College and Bay Path College.
Before teaching math in the Massachusetts public schools, she worked as a research chemist and taught chemistry labs at Springfield College. She is a former trustee of Springfield College where she served as Vice-chair of the board, Chair of the Committee on Trustees, and Co-chair of their capital campaign.
She is a former president of the Library Foundation, a former trustee of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and is a Lifetime Tribune of WGBY/TV. She has been a member of the CityStage Board of Directors, and served for many years on the board of StageWest Regional Theater. She has twice chaired the Lung Association Celebrity Luncheon.
She and Pres are the busy grandparents of sixteen grandchildren.