William Blakely, Jr.

PUTNAM – William H. Blakely, Jr., of Sabin St., died June 7, at Day Kimball Hospital after an illness. His wife, Ruth M. (Mahan) Blakely, sisters Mae and Irene Blakely and brothers John H. and Abraham \'Linc\" Blakely predeceased him. He leaves two sisters, Nancy B. Blakely, of Woodstock, and Bertha B. Dresser, of Sandy Spring, MD; a sister-in-law, Lorraine V. Blakely, of Stoughton; many nieces and nephews.

He was born in Worcester, the son of the late, William H., Sr. and Leah (DeRoche) Blakely, and grew up in the Southbridge area. He graduated from the Mary E. Wells School and the Cole Trade School. Mr. Blakely worked as a machinist at Hydes Manufacturing, AO and Simmons Machine Co. before enlisting into the United States Navy during WWII. He served on a destroyer in the North Atlantic for three years, for which he earned two Bronze Stars. He then worked for Pratt & Whitney and served on the Cohasse Country Club’s Board of Governors for nearly a decade. Mr. Blakely and his partner Russ King won the Four Ball Invitation at Cohasse Country Club, Champion Flight in 1951, 1953 and 1954. He was awarded the Hole-In-One Club certificate from Spaulding Brothers Inc. acing the 4th hole on Aug. 15, 1962 at Cohasse Country Club . He then pursued a career of passion as a Superintendent of many golf courses.

Nichols C.C., Heritage C.C., Quinnatisset C.C.,and constructed Round Hill on Cape Cod, now named Sandwich Hollow Golf Course. He later retired in 1984 from Commaquid Country Club in Yarmouth, where he was also a superintendent for 8 years relocating to South Woodstock, CT.

William enjoyed playing the game of golf to age 90 and will be missed by many in the surrounding communities. He was a member of the Golf Superintendent Association of Cape Cod, the Cape Cod Managers Association, and the VFW in Southbridge. .

A service will be held at 10:00am, Saturday, June 19, in the Holy Trinity Church, 446 Hamilton St., Southbridge. Burial will follow in North Cemetery, Maple St., Sturbridge. There are no calling hours.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to The First Tee of Massachusetts - Main Headquarters, MGA Links at Mamantapett, 300 Arnold Palmer Blvd., Norton, MA 02766 or online at www.thefirstteemass.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp or to The Holy Trinity Church, 446 Hamilton St., Southbridge, MA 01550.  The Belanger-Bullard Funeral Home, 51 Marcy St., Southbridge, is directing arrangements. An online guestbook is available at www.BelangerFuneralHome.com. 

To view the video tribute, please click the following link:

http://memorial.yourtribute.com/williamblakely/