Sue Carol Blake (née McGraw), age 89, of Fort Wayne, IN, died at Parkview Regional Medical Center, on August 5, 2026, from complications of heart failure.

Sue was born in Bolair, West Virginia on November 25,1936, to Lucian and Ruth (Seacrist) McGraw. She was the second of their five children. She married her childhood sweetheart, James W. Blake, Sr., her next-door neighbor, on July 6, 1954. They celebrated 71 years of marriage before her husband's death in 2025.

Sue had several jobs throughout her lifetime but was, at heart, a homemaker. She was known by her family as a living picture of the Proverbs 31 woman. She taught them hard work, responsibility, and dependability through her quiet example. She was an exceptional manager of the resources she had and could stretch a penny, even while displaying her generosity. She was an avid gardener and raised and canned the family's vegetables. Her children remember her as a great country cook. She showed the people in her life love with her favorite hobby of quilting. Everyone in the family and many friends received at least one of her hand-quilted creations.

As a Christian, Sue was an active member of several churches throughout her life and most recently was attending Graceway in Fort Wayne. On her last day, she talked of being in Heaven with Jesus and even offered to pray for one of her nurses.

Sue was preceded in death by her aforementioned parents; her brother, Verlin; her daughter-in-law, Vonnie (Mark); and her beloved husband, James. She is survived by their children, James Blake Jr. (Carol), Rocky Blake (Sandy), Mark Blake (Rose), and Lucinda Schafer (Gary); her grandchildren, Leah, Stephen, Shannon, Leanne, Matthew, Spenser, Benjamin, Emma, Mark Jr., and Heather; her sisters, Betty White, Sonia Brooks, and Mary Fiddler; her sister-in-law, Joy McKinney; twelve great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

A future private service is to be held in West Virginia.

"Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.'"
Proverbs 31:28-29