The founding president of the University College of the Fraser Valley , Dr. Larry J. Blake, died June 11, 2003 , in The Dalles , Ore.  

Dr. Blake was born April 25, 1930 , in Kalispell , Mont. After graduating from Flathead High School in 1948, he attended Montana State University , graduating from the University of Washington with a B.Sc. in 1957, an M.Sc. in 1960, and a PhD from the University of Arizona in 1966. Dr. Blake worked as an engineer and college faculty head before becoming the founding president of Flathead Valley Community College in 1967 in Kalispell.  

In 1974, he was selected as founding president of Fraser Valley College (now UCFV) in Chilliwack . Dr. Blake served as president of the local institution for five years. In 1979, he returned to the U.S. where he became president of the 58-college North Carolina state system. In 1983, he was named president of Oregon Institute of Technology, and in 1990 became president of Lassen College in California before retiring in 1994.  

Although Dr. Blake was educated as an engineer and spent his career as a college president, two personal interests followed him from high school through the rest of his life.  

One interest was in music. He was a member of the symphonic bands where he played a baritone, and in orchestra he played French horn. He continued with the French horn in college an later in the Highline Symphony. The other interest was journalism. He edited his college newspaper, and while serving in the Korean War, he wrote an award-winning weekly column for the Kalispell News-Farm Journal.