Blakeney Stafford ’64

Blake died May 12, 2024.

At Princeton, Blake, who was born in Somerville, N.J., majored in history and played baseball. He was the first Tiger to hit a fair ball out of Clarke Field, a 360-foot blast that led teammate Bill Bradley ’65 to exclaim, “That was a major league homer!”

Blake met many lifelong friends at Princeton, including roommates Peter DeVito, John Smathers, and Lew Sussman. The facility for languages he developed at college, including Spanish and German, also remained strong through his life. He later graduated from Stanford and NYU law schools.

While at Princeton, Blake met Virginia Elmer. They married shortly after his graduation and moved to Chile, where he drafted legislation for the government. They had two children, Page and Amanda. Years later Blake and Julianne Lundberg were wed in Venice, Italy, and enjoyed 32 years of marriage. They lived in Palo Alto, Calif., with children Grace and Nelson. Blake spoke proudly of his four children and five grandchildren,

Blake was a founding partner of the Silicon Valley law firm Fenwick & West. He was proud that the firm helped take many tech companies public.

He also had an interest in geology and managed a partnership that developed a gold prospect in Macedonia. Doing business there presented challenges, which engendered a motherlode of stories and friendships, rather than gold.