Dr. Thomas Malcolm Blake
Thomas Malcolm Blake was born July 18, 1917, in the old Blake house in Double Springs, and he was the son of Thomas Morgan Blake, M.D. of Cleburne County and Docia Hill of Winston County. He attended Winston County Elementary and Winston County High School, where he was an outstanding End and Right Halfback for the Yellow Jacket Football Team. Upon graduation in 1935 from Winston County High School, Dr. Blake attended Jacksonville State Teachers College in Jacksonville, Alabama, and then attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now known as Auburn University) in Auburn, Alabama.
In 1939, he taught Health, Science, and History at Lynn High School in Winston County. He was also an assistant coach for several sports.
He graduated from the University of Tennessee Medical School, served his internship at Norwood Hospital now known as Caraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Blake started his medical practice in Double Springs on July 1, 1943, in the medical office building that had been used by his father.
Dr. Blake married Sarah Jayne Weldon of West Point, Georgia, on May 1, 1943. They had one daughter, Frances Ann Blake Murphy and three granddaughters. Jayne Blake, a Registered Nurse in his Double Springs practice for many years, died August 2, 1969. After the death of Jayne, Dr. Blake married Iveen Berry Callahan of Haleyville, Alabama on June 1, 1974.
Dr. Blake was honored by the town of Double Springs as "Man of the Year" for 1952. The Winston County Alumni Association honored him as Outstanding Alumnus of 1962. The Winston County High School yearbook, the Winsaga, was dedicated to him. In 1981, the Winston County High School Football Stadium was officially named Malcolm Blake Stadium in honor of him. Dr. Blake also served the town of Double Springs as a councilman. In July 1997, Dr. Blake was inducted into the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame.
Dr. Blake was an old fashioned "country doctor." He traveled all over Winston County making house calls. During his medical career, Dr. Blake had patients from all over Winston, Cullman, Walker, and Marion Counties. In an article written about him in the Northwest Alabamian in 1981, he was reported at that time to have helped deliver more than 7,000 babies. Dr. Blake also served as the team doctor for the WCHS Yellow Jacket Football Team for 44 years.
Dr. Blake served the people of Double Springs and surrounding counties until he died of cancer on August 26, 1989.
In 1994, a permanent black granite monument honoring him was erected and dedicated in front of his birthplace in Double Springs. The inscription reads:
"This monument stands in front of the birthplace of Dr. Thomas Malcolm Blake (1917 - 1989). And near the site of his office where for forty-seven years, he devoted his life to helping others. Dr. Blake's birthplace was formerly the residence of the Founder of Double Springs, Andrew Jackson Ingle. Dr. Malcolm Blake was a perfect model for the legendary country doctor. Day or night, in fair or foul weather, he spent his entire adult life providing medical care for the citizens of this area. This memorial is dedicated to Dr. Blake's life and work."
