Dr. Priscilla Dattman Bleke

Dr. Priscilla Dattman Bleke, 88, died at Deerfield Retirement Community on January 20, 2016. She was born in Milton, Massachusetts on October 14, 1927 to the late Godfrey Dattman and Alice H. Dattman. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Robert C. Bleke. She is survived by a son Eric, a daughter-in-law, Emily, and three grandsons, Michael, Taylor and Andrew, all of Atlanta, Georgia; a son, Andrew, of Atlanta, Georgia; a daughter, Caroline Paris, a son-in-law, Ralph, and two grandchildren, Alexander and Isabel, all of Greensboro, North Carolina; and a daughter, Elizabeth Clark, a son-in-law, Christopher, and two grandsons, John and Robert, all of Macon, Georgia. She graduated from Milton Public High School in 1944. In 1948 she received her AB degree in Psychology from Wheaton College, in 1950 her MA degree in Psychology from Smith College, and in 1954 her Ph.D. in Psychology from Duke University. She taught Psychology at Smith College and at Emory University. In 1970 she founded her own firm of educational consultants, Priscilla D. Bleke & Associates in Atlanta. Her firm specialized in finding boarding schools and treatment centers for children and young adults. Her firm was the first of its kind in the Southeast and at the time one of four in the United States. She was active in a variety of civic and professional groups, most especially with the Episcopal Church. She was a board member of Holy Innocents Episcopal School, a Vestry Person and Junior Warden of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church and a member of the Daughters of the King at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia. She was a life-long Republican. Upon her retirement in 1990 she and her husband lived part time in Cashiers, North Carolina. In 2000 they moved from Atlanta to the Deerfield Retirement Community in Asheville but continued to summer in Cashiers. A memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm on February 13, 2016 in St. Giles Chapel at Deerfield. The Rev. Tonya D. Hill will officiate. The service will be followed by a reception. Memorials may be made to the Salvation Army or Wounded Warriors. Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian is assisting the family.