Published in Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin from Apr. 12 to Apr. 25, 2014 
Binghamton, NY



Lake, Rev. Richard E.

The Rev. Richard E. Lake died at Vassar Hospital, Poughkeepsie, Tuesday,
March 4, 2014. Mr. Lake was born June 11, 1932 in Painted Post, New
York. His parents were Ivan Taggart and Viola Johnson. Mr. Lake, an
ordained minister of the Reformed Church in America, held a Masters of
Theology from the New York Theological Seminary and was a graduate of New
Brunswick Theological Seminary 1963, Cornell University 1960, and Painted
Post High School 1950. During the Korean War he served in the U.S. Navy
from 1952-1956. He began his ministry in 1963 serving the Bloomington
and St. Remy Reformed Churches in the Hudson Valley. He also pastored
the United Reformed Church in the Town of Rosendale, the Canajoharie
Reformed Church in Canajoharie, Third Reformed Church in Albany, and
Warsaw International Church in Warsaw, Poland. After leaving full time
ministry and moving to Afton, New York, Mr. Lake preached in many local
Southern Tier churches. His poems and essays have appeared in several
journals and newspapers in The Tri-town News and Press Sun Bulletin. On
July 9, 1955, Mr. Lake married Phyllis Neff Lake of Deposit. Together
they spent six months at a medical mission, Hospital Evangelico Moravo
in Ahuas, Honduras, as teachers in 2003. He is survived by his wife,
a son, R. Taggart Lake and his wife, Jill Corson Lake and their sons,
Mac Taggart and Bryce Taylor Lake of Putnam Valley; his daughter, Susan
Lake and her wife, Wendy Maynard of Fishkill; a sister and her husband,
Patricia and George Olinger of Rialto, CA; a sister-in-law, Eva Lake of
Ewing, NJ; and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be
held in the East Side Cemetery in Afton, New York, on Saturday, May 3,
at 12:00 noon. Donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation
for Parkinson's Research, Grand Central Station, PO Box 4777, New York,
NY 10163-4777.