Richard "Dick" Blake, one of 10 children and the grandson of freed slaves, was known for his community involvement in everything from youth sports to the time he was a coach at Monroe High School, then Cocoa’s Black High School.
Tall and athletic, Blake played both basketball and football at the school in the 1940s. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Claflin University in South Carolina and master’s degrees from Columbia University in New York and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
He returned to Brevard in 1955 to coach football and teach. Later in 1966, as the nation struggled through school desegregation, Blake was named as an assistant coach at what would become Rockledge High. He became Brevard’s first African-American principal - after desegregation- when he was named principal at Cocoa High School in 1979. He continued to mentor students, teachers, and others before running for political office in Rockledge.
Blake, whose son Mike Blake is now mayor of Cocoa, was principal at Cocoa High for 23 years and served on Rockledge City Council from 1976 until 2016.
For decades, Blake remained a larger-than-life figure who touched countless lives along the Space Coast through his work as a coach and his activism in civil rights, education, and politics.
© Florida Institute of Technology.
