Lee and Velma Blakely Memorial
Northshore Scholarship Foundation
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Lee and Velma Blakely Memorial |
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Scholarship
Scholarship opportunities for those interested in more general fields of academic study and vocational preparation are provided through these memorials:
Allott Additional scholarships are offered by the following organizations: BHS
Alumni |
Endowment Established - 2007
Provided by - The endowment was established through memorial contributions from friends in 2005 and by a donation in the spring of 2007 from the Blakely family.
2010 Value - $ 1,500
2009 Recipient
Natalie Larson 2008 Recipient Joylina Velasquez
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About Lee Blakely . . . Reprinted from the Bothell/Kenmore Reporter of September 7, 2005 . . . a Northshore Citizen column written by John B. Hughes covering the passing of Congressman Lloyd Meeds and Lee and Velma Blakely.
Congressman Lloyd Meeds lost his battle with cancer at age 77 and former
Northshore School District superintendent Lee Blakely died on his birthday
at age 87. They shared a work ethic and compassion for others that should
prove a model for today’s youth, as well as to those who seek to enter
public life. Neither was too busy to consider the needs of those they
served nor did either duck the tough issues of their day.
Lee Blakely moved to Kenmore in 1955, where
he became principal of Kenmore elementary and later advanced to the role
of assistant superintendent for instruction. In 1974, he was appointed to
direct the entire district for the next seven years until his retirement.
Like so many of his long-time friends and
associates, I have many fond, personal memories of Lee. I could always
count on a friendly greeting from him when he would slap a huge helping of
spaghetti on my plate at the annual Kiwanis dinner held before each
Inglemoor-Bothell football game. In attending school board meetings, I
vividly recall the times a school board member would ask Lee for a
recommendation and his response would invariably be pointedly wrapped in
“whatever will be in the best interest of the kids.”
His wife of 64 years, Velma, preceded Lee’s
death by only a month. He was devoted to her, and, for many years
following his retirement he continued to nurse her through a long period
of declining health. To keep in touch with friends and build new
friendships, Lee turned his hobby of tinkering with lawnmowers into a
backyard, cottage-style repair service. Here was a man who held the respect of teaching peers, parents, graduates and community leaders alike. He knew how to listen and he surely had learned how to lead. Lee was old-school when it was still fashionable to exemplify what you learned growing up: a farm boy from the heart of the Palouse country who started a lifelong career in education in a town called Plaza. At Plaza, with enrollment only 40, Lee Blakely taught grades five through eight, served as acting principal as well as coach, janitor and bus driver.
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