Richard âRicâ Allan Blake
CO-FOUNDER OF WORLDWIDE THYROID CANCER SURVIVORS ORGANIZATION DIES
Richard Allan âRicâ Blake, a resident of Londonderry, New Hampshire, died on August 15, 2011. Co-founder of the worldâs first network for thyroid cancer survivors, Ricâs death was caused by an aggressive form of thyroid cancer, first diagnosed in 1995 and restaged terminal at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., in June 2001. A native of West Virginia, Ric was 66 years old. Ric had been receiving services through St. Joseph Home and Hospice Care for almost five months before his death.
A celebration of life service will be held on Sunday, October 30, 2011, from 1 pm to 4 pm, at the Cascia Hall, Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St., North Andover, MA, 01899.
Ric's struggle with thyroid cancer was chronicled beginning in January 2001 by the Eagle-Tribune, a newspaper in Lawrence, Mass., in a series of 19 front-page articles entitled âLiving Well to the End.â The goal of the series was to put a human face on life-threatening illnesses and to increase public awareness about palliative care and end-of-life issues. The series is just one piece of the advocacy mosaic Ric and his wife, psychologist Diane (Zanfagna) Blake, created after his diagnosis. When speaking on behalf of organizations involved in cancer care and research, Ric would tell audiences that he viewed his life as being divided in two â his life before cancer diagnosis and his life after. After his diagnosis, advocacy became the central focus of Ricâs life.
The son of Maxine âKayâ (Nance) Blake and Dolous Morris Blake, Ric was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, where he graduated from Marshall University. In 1971, he moved to New Hampshire with Diane, a Massachusetts native and a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and Marshall University. Ric earned his masterâs degree from Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass., and continued graduate work in counseling psychology at the University of New Hampshire, where he also completed internships in counseling and human sexuality.
A descendant of Jasper Blake, who settled in Hampton, New Hampshire, in the 1620s, Ric wrote genealogies on his Blake, Nance, Massie and Pennington families. The first of several editions of his Pennington genealogy, Ancestors & Descendants of Wheeler Pennington of Monroe County, West Virginia, was published in 1992. Ric was a long-time member of the Pennington Research Association and continued his research up until his death. He also wrote the genealogy of his wifeâs Zanfagna and Zappala families, who came to Lawrence, Mass., from Italy in the early 1900s.
Before thyroid cancer, Ric was a counselor, teacher, writer, photographer and public relations director for nonprofit organizations, including his last position as the Public Information Director for Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in Lawrence, Mass. Ric was an active member of the New Hampshire Art Association, the oldest professional artist association in the U.S. He was juried into NHAA as a fine art photographer in 1988. From then until 1995, he edited the Associationâs newsletter and created photography projects, including âMain Street, New Hampshire,â which toured New England from 1991 to 1993, then traveled to Washington, D.C. for a Congressional Exhibit in 1994.
Since his diagnosis in October 1995, Ric turned his frustration with the lack of support services for the uncommon thyroid cancer survivors into action. In 1996, he organized and facilitated the first support group for thyroid cancer survivors in the United States. The following year, he used the Internet to connect with Karen Ferguson of North Carolina and organize a national planning committee under the name ThyCa, which first met in Lawrence, Mass., in June 1997 and incorporated after the first national conference in 1998 in Burlington, Mass., as ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivorsâ Association, Inc. Since then, ThyCa created an award-winning website (www.thyca.org), helped volunteers develop dozens of local support groups across the U.S., and developed an international outreach program. In 1999, ThyCa organized online mutual support groups for all types of thyroid cancer, including pediatric, anaplastic, medullary, advanced, caregivers and long-term survivors. ThyCa conducts national conferences and regional workshops annually.
From that first support group meeting in November 1996 in Lawrence, Mass., ThyCa has achieved prominence as the first nonprofit organization in the world dedicated to thyroid cancer survivors. Quickly gaining support throughout the U.S. medical community, ThyCa established its first Medical Advisory Council in 2000 with scientists and physicians from the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Washington Hospital Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the University of Kentucky Thyroid Cancer Research Center. Ric also spearheaded the national drive to establish the third week in September as Thyroid Cancer Awareness Week.
Ric received treatment for his cancer locally until 1998, when he volunteered to participate in a patient research protocol at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. In June 2000, testing at NIH revealed that his radio iodine therapy was no longer effective for his evolving cancer, which eliminated thyroid cancer treatmentâs âmagic bullet.â This meant that he was dealing with a life-threatening, advanced cancer. When he returned from NIH, he began searching for palliative care services in New England. Once again, he discovered a lack of comprehensive services, and, once again, he turned his frustration into action by bringing together local hospitals, hospices, community health centers and the American Cancer Society to form the Palliative Care Coalition of the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts. Its mission is to increase the awareness of both medical professionals and the general public of the role of palliative care services in the treatment of life-threatening illnesses.
Married since 1967, Ric and his wife, Diane Zanfagna Blake, had long worked together as co-facilitators and trainers in the areas of relationship nurturing, personal growth, family dynamics, sexuality education and communication skills. When Ricâs cancer became life-threatening, they turned their attention to patient advocacy and caregiver support. Together, they spoke at Harvard University Medical School, American Cancer Society, public radio and television, health organizations, local hospitals and conferences throughout New England. In November 2000, they invited the Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Mass., to follow their lives as Ricâs disease progressed. The series was titled âLiving Well to the End.â Until the end of the series, he and Diane gave complete access to Eagle-Tribune writer Marjory Sherman and photographer Cheryl Senter. In 2002, Ms. Senter also created an online photo journal of the images from the series; they can be seen at www.fateye.com. In October 2002, Diane and Ric were recognized for their work with an Outstanding Leadership and Service Award by the New Hampshire Partnership for End-of-Life Care and the Foundation for Healthy Communities.
Throughout his battle with cancer, Ricâs daily goal was to live well in the moment until the end of life. In March 2011, he asked his physicians at St. Joseph Home and Hospice Care if the time had come to transfer to hospice. By getting hospice care early, he and Diane were able to enjoy the full benefits to them and their family during his last months.
Professionally, Ric was a special education teacher, counselor, college instructor, writer, editor, photographer and public relations manager, but he considered his advocacy work on behalf of end-of-life education and his work for thyroid cancer survivors and their families as the most important work of his life.
Ric hosted his own celebration of life on May Day, 2011, where friends and family gathered. To support Ricâs work, you may send a tax-deductible contribution in his name to ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivorsâ Association, Inc., PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545, or to St. Joseph Home Health and Hospice Care, 24 North River Road, Milford, NH 03055. For more information about ThyCa go to: www.thyca.org.