PICAYUNE — Award-winning Mississippi landscape architect Ed Blake, who created the original design for Crosby Arboretum, has died at his home in Hattiesburg.

Blake, 63, passed away Sunday, Aug. 29, after a series of health complications, from which most close to him believed he was recovering.

Most know of Blake as the driving force behind the concept and design of the Crosby Arboretum.  The Arboretum was repeatedly referred to as Blake’s favorite endeavor. He won many awards for his work there, including the 1991 Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. This is the highest national award given in that field and is the only one ever to be received in Mississippi.

He also received the 1992 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts: Design of Public Space, Mississippi Arts Commission, among many other awards which can be viewed at http://www.crosbyarboretum.msstate.edu/pages/awards.php.

Lynn Crosby Gamill, whose family gave the land and original funding for Crosby Arboretum, said, “When we started the Arboretum vision, which was in approximately 1979 to 1980, we spoke to local contractors and used people from Mississippi. Ed Blake met with us and we knew that he was the one. I am proud to know that providence put us in contact with Ed. The Founders worked with him on all phases.”

The Arboretum is named for Gamill’s father, the late L.O. Crosby, Jr.

Gamill says, “He was a wonderful landscape architect. He won a National award for the  Arboretum. It is such a big tragedy to lose him.”

Crosby Arboretum Interim Director and Item “Arboretum Paths” columnist, Patricia Drackett said, “Visitors to the Crosby Arboretum may think that we have just randomly created trails through a nice piece of property. But the magic that many comment upon perceiving here is the direct result of Ed’s very meticulous master plan.  A visitor walking on the Arboretum pathways is treated to constantly changing views while traveling through the exhibits. At the same time, he may not be aware of another pathway that may be only a stone’s throw away. When a visitor pauses in his walking, and stands on a pathway, or rests on a bench, he will experience the distinct feeling that it is just him and nature, which is all part of Ed’s planning.

“Ed Blake was an active member of the Crosby Arboretum Foundation board, and continually served to guide the development of the Arboretum as it continued to build out according to his master plan.  He had been involved in the recent planning for our newest exhibit — the Gum Pond Exhibit — which will be constructed over the coming year. Ed had just participated in an on-site pre-construction meeting in early August, where the final layout for this area was determined and marked for construction,” Drackett said.

Bob Brzuszek, a one time understudy of Blake’s and former curator at Crosby Arboretum who is now an associate professor of landscape architecture at Mississippi State University, and architect Patrick Alexander were part of that meeting with Blake.

Alexander worked with Ed Blake at Studio 201, a landscape design firm that Blake owned.

“I attended the last meeting at the Arboretum with Ed for the Gum Pond. It was a real treat to walk the site with him and him give insights on why they did certain things the way that they did. It was really exciting to get back to the office and see the pictures from 20 years ago.  I don’t know if there is a profession around that delays gratification like landscape design,” Alexander said.

“The Arboretum was probably his favorite project. It brought together many very intelligent individuals from vastly different backgrounds and synthesized their knowledge in one place. When we look at how ugly the world is today because all the disciplines are so separated and compare it to the beauty of the Arboretum where all where combined, I think that the Arboretum is a shining example of how things can be done right,” Alexander said.

“He was a poet and a painter as well as a landscape architect. He loved nature, and more than anything he loved the landscape of Mississippi with his whole being. He would sit and listen to the wind in the pines and would get up early to take photos of the misty landscapes that would be on display at those hours. He was consumed with an endless curiosity and love of learning about nature. He left a great legacy for all of us here now and for those that will follow us,” Brzuszek said.

Drackett remembered a day when it dawned on her how renowned and respected Blake was.

“One day last year a landscape architecture class from Iowa State University stopped by the Arboretum as they passed through after a Louisiana visit. As the professors held an impromptu class for their students out on the Pinecote Pavilion that day, speaking in great depth on our site’s history, planning, and national significance, it certainly made an impression on me that we are well-known and well-respected by land planners afar,” she said.

For those concerned about the Arboretum’s future development, Drackett said, “Bob was Ed’s understudy. He saw things through Ed’s eyes and shared his vision. The project will go on as Ed had planned.

“Today, we at the Arboretum are ‘steering the ship,’ taking care of the site and creating opportunities that attract visitors and allow them to experience, and learn, about the joys found in nature. Although the early days of the property’s intensive planning and development are long over, as we travel the site daily, and as we watch it evolve, it is impossible to forget its beginnings, and of the history and people that served to guide us to where we are today. But most of all, it is simply impossible to imagine the Crosby Arboretum without Ed,” Drackett said. 

A memorial service is at 3 p.m. Friday at Trinity Episcopal Church, 509 W. Pine St., Hattiesburg. Visitation is 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the church.

A public memorial will be held for Blake, at a later date, at the Arboretum. An announcement will be made prior to the date.

Blake is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and sons Chase and Ben.

The Crosby Arboretum confirms that the Blake family has requested that donations be made to the Crosby Arboretum Foundation in his memory, in lieu of flowers. Please call the Crosby Arboretum at 601-799-2311 for details.