Robert Charles Bleke, PH. D.

Dr. Bleke died at the Deerfield Retirement Community on February 3, 2010. He was born in Huntertown, Indiana on July 12, 1927 and was the son of the late Elmer L. Bleke and Emma V. Bleke. He was the husband of Dr. Priscilla D. Bleke. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Eric, a daughter-in-law, Emily, and three grandsons, Michael, Taylor and Andrew, of Atlanta, Georgia; by a son, Andrew, of Atlanta, Georgia; by a daugh-ter, Caroline Paris, a son-in-law, Ralph, and two grandchildren, Alexander and Isabel, of Greensboro, North Carolina; and a daughter, Elizabeth Clark, and a son-in-law, Christopher, and two grandsons, John and Robert, of Macon, Georgia. He was raised on the family farm and graduated from the Huntertown Public High School in 1945. As a young man he was an accomplished pianist and played trumpet in the Fort Wayne Symphony Orchestra. In 1949 he received his AB degree in Psychology from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Duke University in 1953. He began his professional career as a lecturer at Duke University and joined the international firm of management psychologists, Rohrer, Hibler & Replogle in 1954. He be-came the Resident Partner of the Atlanta Office of RHR in 1965. In l972 he co-founded his own firm of corporate psychologists, Bleke & Boyd, P.C. in Atlanta. Bleke & Boyd became the largest regional firm of corporate psychologists in the Southeast. In Atlanta he was a mem-ber of the Southeastern Psychological Association and served as a Director and later the President of the Georgia Psychological Association. He assisted the Episcopal Church on both a Diocesan and Parish level and was a co-founder of St. Dunstan�s Episcopal Church. Upon his retirement in 1993, he and Priscilla lived part time in Cashiers, North Carolina. There he served as President of the Colony Club of High Hampton and as the President of the Sheep Laurel Homeowner�s Association. He was active in the Church of the Good Shepherd in Cashiers and served on the Vestry and as Co-Chairman of the Financial Stewardship Committee. In 2000 he moved from Atlanta to the Deerfield Retirement Community in Asheville. A memorial service will be held at St. Giles Chapel at Deerfield on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. The Rev. Ingram Parmley will officiate. The service will be followed by a reception in the Commons Room. Memorials may be made to the Asheville Art Museum, Two South Pack Square, Asheville, NC 28802 or The Salvation Army, 1424 Northeast Expressway, Atlanta, GA 30329.