Drake, Richard D.

On Sunday, June 26, classmates, family and friends celebrated a memorial at Massachusetts Maritime Academy for Richard D. Drake, who graduated from MMA as an engineer in 1974. Richard passed away on May 16, 2011.

He was born on December 3, 1952, in St. Albans, VT, and was raised in Canton.

He was the husband of Barbara (Shatzman) Drake of Londonderry, NH, for 32 years. Father of Gregory Drake of Londonderry, Justin Drake of Newton, and Tara Drake of Chelmsford. Son of Harold M. Drake, Jr. and Olive Snow Drake of Canton. Brother of David Drake and his wife, Karen, of Hillsboro, NH, Jennifer C.E. Drake of Bremerton, WA, and Nancy Drake-Simpson of Canton.

Richard earned his MBA at Southern New Hampshire University in 2006.

Many of his classmates were there on June 26 to honor him, including Captain Thomas Bushy, who is the current MMA vice president and master of the training ship Kennedy. Canton residents Richard Kradin and Carl Lindquist, both MMA graduates, were also in attendance. Mark Donahue, MMA 1974, made the opening remarks, thanking all who attended. Fellow classmates spoke of Richard’s dedication to all who knew him.

His father, Harold Drake, read one of Richard’s letters written from sea in 1974, telling of Richard’s duties aboard ship, especially getting along with other engineers who were much older than he. In spite of age differences, he and the older men respected each other and they all bonded together.

His classmates told of many humorous pranks they remembered, so all the secrets came out. They also sang their special class song, which contained words very special to them. They sang it for Richard, whose ashes were interred in the canal near the academy from the yacht MARITA, skippered by his classmate Captain Bushy.

A delicious buffet, including some spirits, was served following the program.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jul 6 2011. Filed under Obituaries. Both comments and pings are currently closed.