Gene W. Blades

On October 15, 2018, Gene William Blades passed away at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore after a brief illness. His eldest son was present at the end together with a group of devoted and caring nurses. A recording of “Amazing Grace” was playing in Mr. Blades’ room at the moment the heart monitor alarmed sounded. The attending physician pronounced his death just as the song ended. He was born at the Fifer Hospital in Ridgely, MD, on January 25, 1939. Mr. Blades was the youngest of eight children born to Cordova farmer Bolden Blades and his wife, Della Cornelia Moore. After a childhood spent in Cordova, MD, Mr. Blades graduated from Easton High School in the Class of 1957. He then pursued business studies at Goldey Beacom College in Wilmington, DE. He graduated from Goldey Beacom with honors on November 19, 1958. One of Mr. Blades’ favorite stories from his college years involved listening to former president Harry S Truman deliver a political speech in Wilmington, DE. He was so unimpressed with President Truman’s address that Mr. Blades became a life-long Republican to the great consternation of his father, a dyed-in-the wool Democrat. On October 18, 1961, he joined the United States Army. He was assigned to the 107th Finance Disbursing Section at Fort Bragg, NC. His unit handled payroll distribution for the 82nd Airborne. Mr. Blades often recalled the time he carried $8,000,000 in cash onto a transport plane in preparation for the planned invasion of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. To his disappointment, his sons were always more interested in the idea that the Army planned to parachute trucks, jeeps, sacks of cash, and overweight accountants onto Cuba. They particularly enjoyed the thought of their father potentially parachuting into Cuba with his ledger under one arm and a 1960s adding machine under the other. While serving in the Army, Mr. Blades married Jean Wise, daughter of Granville and Ethel Wise, on June 8, 1963, at Saint Paul’s Church in Trappe. During the course of their nearly fifty-five year marriage, Mr. & Mrs. Blades raised two sons, Granville G. Blades and Gene William Blades, Jr. Despairing that Granville would forever call his younger brother “Baby” or “Rubbers” (which had a different connotation in late 1960’s Talbot County), they eventually conceded that their second child bore a resemblance to the cartoon character Charlie Brown leading to his lifelong nickname of “Charlie.” After briefly residing at the Old Baker Farm outside Trappe (now the site of La Trappe Heights), the newlyweds moved to a Wise family property at Reeds Creek and began to lovingly restore the colonial home. Reeds Creek remains the property of Granville and Charlie who inherited it from their maternal grandparents in 1998. During high school, Mr. Blades worked at the Young Men’s Shop in Easton. After graduation from Goldey Beacom, he took a bookkeeping position with Noble Ford. Following his service in the Army, Gene Blades went to work for his father-in-law at Trappe Landing Grain Company. During this time, he opened a small antique shop which grew from his passion for giving his wife antiques as gifts. They always strongly insisted that the antiques belonged solely to Mrs. Blades rather than being their shared property. After the Wise Family sold Trappe Landing, Mr. Blades went to work as office manager at Elliot-Wilson Trucks in Easton. In the mid-1980s, he opened a restaurant in Trappe called “Gene’s.” He often laughed about an article in the Washington Post that referred to the restaurant as “a counter and grill joint” and to him as “the chief cook and reigning presence.” He finished his professional life as office manager for Murdoch Gardens, Inc. In later years, he helped Charlie with his imprint business and cared for his beloved wife during her final illness. The son of a Roman Catholic father and a Protestant mother, Gene Blades had an ecumenical view of religion. As a young man, he was an active member of the Methodist Church and would proudly show his collection of Sunday school attendance pins. After marriage, he became active in the Episcopal Church of his wife. For many years, he was a member of Saint Paul’s Church in Trappe where he served as Treasurer and Lay Reader for nearly twenty years. From 1998, Mr. Blades was a congregant at Trinity Cathedral in Easton where he was a weekly attendee at the 8am service on Sundays. He liked to sit in the same spot at the back of the cathedral for every service. The 8am congregation became a group of very dear friends for Gene Blades. Gene Blades was a Life Member of the Trappe Volunteer Fire Company. For many years, he served as secretary or treasurer of the fire company and was a regular volunteer for bingo and the annual fair before declining health forced him to slow down. He was also a member of the Trappe Lions Club and the Easton Elks. A gregarious person, Mr. Blades maintained a wide circle of friends until the end. He loved to attend the monthly reunions of the Easton High School Class of 1957. The Statler Brothers’ song “The Class of ‘57” was a favorite tune although his wife, sons, and grandchildren preferred that he only sing to his classmates (or outside). Every Saturday, he had breakfast with the “gang” at Cindy’s Kitchen in Cambridge, MD. Most days, he had breakfast with farmers and other friends at one of several favorite eating spots. Virtually every day, he had lunch with his younger son and dinner with his oldest. Gardening was a great passion and Gene Blades loved to maintain his garden. He and his late mother-in-law shared a love of English Boxwood. He religiously cut the grass at several locations on weekly regardless of whether it needed cutting. Every day, he watered the numerous plants that he placed outside his wife’s house, even during rain storms. In recent years, he became a devoted collector of sticks. He was exasperated by his sons’ insistence on following their maternal grandfather’s advice that the best solution to a stick in the road was to just drive over it. The birth of his grandchildren, Adam and Nikki, filled Mr. Blades with immense joy and pride. He decorated his bedroom with his grandchildren’s school pictures and artwork. On the day of their respective births, he started saving so he could buy each of them a car when they turned sixteen. Talking about his grandchildren was a favorite activity and their visits were occasions of immense happiness. Mr. Blades is survived by his sons, Granville and Charlie; Charlie’s wife, Nancy;, and their children, Adam and Nikki. He is also survived by his twin sister, Jane Asche of Cordova, and his brothers, John Blades of Easton, Bryan Blades (and his wife, Phyllis) of Centreville, and Paul Blades (and his wife, Frances) of Cordova, and his sister-in-law, Shirley Blades of Cordova. Mr. Blades was a beloved uncle to his numerous nieces and nephews. During his last months, he became very devoted to his late wife’s beloved feline companion, Tune. Preceding Mr. Blades in death were his wife of nearly 55 years, Jean Wise Blades; his parents, Bolden and Della Blades; his brother, Robert Blades; his sisters, Virginia Satchell and Ellen Manahan; sister-in-law, Margaret Blades, and his brothers-in-law, Paul Asche, Curtis Satchell, and George “Alvin” Manahan. Family and friends are invited to a visitation at Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P.A. in Easton, MD, from 6-8PM on Friday, October 26, 2018. The Burial Rite will be celebrated at Trinity Cathedral in Easton at 10am on Saturday, October 27, 2018 followed by interment in the Wise-Blades family plot at Whitemarsh Cemetery in Trappe. The family suggests that friends consider making a donation in Gene William Blades’ memory to the Trappe Volunteer Fire Department.

Gene W. Blades

January 25, 1939 - October 15, 2018