Colon Blake never met a stranger. “His personality was his strong suit; he was very friendly and that helps a lot in the restaurant business,” said Blake’s oldest son, Jimmy.
Blake also represented Montgomery and Randolph counties for three terms in the N.C. House of Representatives in the late 60s and early 70s, followed by an appointment to the North Carolina Banking Commission.
Blake’s Restaurant, a fixture in Montgomery County for more than 60 years, was closed yesterday and today in memory of Colon Blake, who died Feb. 18.
Blake grew up in Candor and got into the restaurant business by cleaning tables and waiting on customers at Ewing’s Café before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Blake came home, married his sweetheart Inez in June and opened the original Blake’s Restaurant on U.S. 220 between Candor and Biscoe on July 4, 1947.
In addition to the restaurant business, Blake was a real estate developer of residential and commercial properties, including the Candor Shopping Center, which brought the first supermarket to his hometown.
Golf buddy and fellow businessman Rick Harris recalled Blake as a highly competitive person, especially if it involved any kind of a bet with his friend, the late Bob Dozier. “They’d even compete over who had the most grandkids,” Harris said laughing at the memory. “They’d bet on which of two flies would land or take off first”
Harris also recalled Blake as a competitive businessman and an innovator. “He may not have had a college education like his friend Dozier but he got a business education in the House in Raleigh. I think he got a lot of ideas from the bigger city guys and brought them home and did them on a smaller scale, like the Candor Shopping Center. He raised four great boys, though that was most likely Inez’s influence, but all four have been a benefit to the county.”
Scarlett Leach started working at Blake’s before it moved to the current location, back when she was in high school, and “more on than off” since. “Colon was a fair and honest person and had a great sense of humor, but he could be a boss when he needed to be,” she said. “He was very good to me and if anyone needed help he would do what he could. He was generous, a loving parent and grandparent. He had a great heart but just was kind of gruff about it.”
One of the ways he helped people was giving them a chance to work. “He got a lot of people started working,; so many people have worked there, whole families,” she recalled. “If he wasn’t here, people always asked about him and he always had special little jokes and remarks for everyone. He was always telling me to get out of the kitchen and one time told me I was bossy. I said I’d learned that from him.”
John Martin called Blake his lunch buddy. “I’ve eaten with him every day for 10 years, lunch and sometimes supper,” he said. “It was a unique relationship. I’d go in and we’d find something to argue about. People really enjoyed the way we hounded each other.”
Martin described Blake as a kind of father or older brother figure. “He was always there and always good for a laugh. You could never get anything on him; he always had a comeback,” he said. “I looked forward to going to the restaurant every day just to sit there and needle him; he was a good friend.”
Freddie Smith started working at Blake’s as a teenage in 1964. “When I first started, Mr. Blake said this is going to be your home away from home, and over all these years it has been,” he said. “I always felt like Mr. Blake was a Christian-hearted, loving person. He enjoyed people, and his family became my brothers and sisters. Mr. Blake was my best friend, my brother and a father-figure to me.”
