1925 – 2013

NORWAY — Blake E. MacKay of Bethel died Friday, May 24, at the Stephens Memorial Hospital with his loving family by his side.

He was born on June 27, 1925, in Drew Plantation, the ninth and youngest child of Amy and Ernest MacKay. Blake graduated from Wytopitlock High School and  joined the Army Air Corps during WWII, stationed in the Philippines and Guam.

Blake moved to Bethel in 1947, where he met his future wife, Rachel Brown. During the time that they were courting, he spent two years in Boston, and in 1951 he graduated from Franklin Technical Institute, ready to begin his lifelong career as a master electrician.

One year later in 1952, Blake and Rachel married and settled in the village of Bethel, where they would remain for the next 61 years. They raised four children together and happily watched their daughters marry and give them eight perfect grandchildren.

Blake was an electrician for 15 years before he was selected as a state electrical inspector in 1966. He became the first chief state electrical inspector of Maine.

After his retirement in 1994, Blake continued to volunteer his services to many organizations in Bethel. He had been a member of the Masons since 1952, as well as a member of the Shriners and the American Legion. Blake was a Bethel firefighter and selectman in the early 1960s and an original corporator of the Bethel Savings Bank.

Blake will also be long remembered for being a devoted family man, his joy in hearing and sharing a good story, his big vegetable garden with its prized potatoes, his love of facts, his expertise as an electrician and his ability to fix almost anything.

He is survived by his wife, Rachel MacKay; his children and their spouses, Susan and Scott Parker of Bethel, Blaine MacKay of Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., Sandy and Mike Robinson of Wells, and Mary and Carlos Pita of Simsbury, Conn.; and his grandchildren, Ross and Gavin Parker, Patrick, Alex, Sydney and Holly Robinson, and Kyle and Brandon Pita. He is also survived by his sisters, Phyllis MacKay and Katheryn Eames; brother, Roderick MacKay; and many nieces and nephews, whom he adored. The family is very grateful for his many loyal friends.

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brothers, Bruce and Donald MacKay; his sisters, Dorothy Rollins, Barbara Lundquist and Harriet Ranslow; his brothers- and sisters-in-law, Jim and Bea Brown, Alfred and Faith Brown, Arlene Brown, Vern Rollins, Rodney Eames, Arnold Lundquist, Grant Ranslow, and Blanche and Jennie MacKay; and nieces, Linda Brown and Bonnie Eames Bowden.

Copy the Story Link