Blake Lorenz

Blake Thomas Lorenz, of Lanham, Maryland, a physicist and NASA engineer, died September 5,

2026, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He was 82.

Blake was born on November 7, 1943, in San Isidro, Lima, Peru, to Lucile Mabel Cummings, a

Minneapolis native raised in Frederick, South Dakota, and Rolland Carl Lorenz, of Waseca,

Minnesota. His mother was a social worker, and his father was a forester and plant pathologist

whose career took him throughout the tropics in Africa and the Americas. By the time Blake was

born, Rolland was leading research in Tingo María, Peru, on rubber, cinchona (the source of the

antimalarial drug quinine), and other strategic crops.

Blake spent his earliest years in Tingo María, Peru, before further postings took the family to

Washington, D.C., then Guatemala. In 1950, after a bout of rheumatic fever, his mother took him to

Riverside, California, where he grew up. Blake was active in Webelos and the Boy Scouts, and

family lore included the feat of baking a lemon meringue pie in the High Sierras. He became a ham

radio operator under the call sign K6MRZ (“King 6 Mighty Round Zebra”), an early interest that

foreshadowed his career in communications. At Ramona High School, he played clarinet in the pep

band and participated in civic leadership and debate. Summers were often spent in Minnesota with

Aunt Myrtle and cousins Dodie, Jeannie, Bill, Linda, and Scott, and fishing for walleye with uncles

Ralph (Rolland’s twin) and Harold.

Blake studied geology and physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was a

member of Delta Sigma Phi, a fraternity founded on principles of inclusion across religious and

ethnic lines, and displayed a characteristic appetite for both learning and fun. He won an Isla Vista

taco-eating contest by consuming 34 tacos, breaking the previous record of 29, then casually

returned to the dining commons for dinner. He later transferred to UC Berkeley, where he earned

his bachelor's degree in physics.

After college, Blake served with the U.S. Army Map Service and later earned a master’s degree in

engineering administration from George Washington University in 1981. At NASA’s Goddard Space

Flight Center, Blake became a senior electronics engineer and one of the nation’s leading experts

in space communications, weighing in on mission design and launch readiness for missions that

carried both astronauts and machines. His sharpest catch may have been on the first Space

Shuttle flight in 1981, when his analysis corrected an error in the Shuttle program’s antenna

calculations. NASA recognized his impact with an Exceptional Achievement Award.

Blake’s curiosity was never confined to his work. Over the course of his life and career, he visited

all seven continents, including Antarctica. He also took great pride in his German American

heritage and celebrated the food, music, language, and cultural ties that came with it. Music was

another lifelong thread. From playing clarinet in his youth, and singing with the UCSB Men’s Glee

Club, Blake went on to enjoy choral singing and had memorable experiences of performing at

Carnegie Hall in New York, N.Y., and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in

Washington, D.C. He also served on the board of the Prince George’s Philharmonic and as its vice

president.

Blake is survived by his partner, Girale Wilson; his children, Benjamin Lorenz and his wife,

Ganesha Martin, and Laura Williams and her husband, Justin Williams; his granddaughter, Chloe

Lorenz; and the many cousins and friends who loved him. The memorial service will be held at

12:00 pm on September 26, 2026, Unity by the Bay, 4 Pointless Forest Trail, Annapolis, MD.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Prince George’s Philharmonic “In memory

of Blake Lorenz”.

Donate HERE: