Stephen Alan Drake

Stephen Drake passed away on May 8, 2023 after a short battle with glioblastoma multiforme.

He was born in Birkenhead, England on February 3, 1951, the son of Edgar Drake and Caroline (Thomas) Drake, brother of June Buckingham and Pauline Sherry. After growing up in Birkenhead in a large and loving family, he went to Edinburgh University where he received his BSc in Astrophysics. He came to the United States in 1973 to attend graduate school at UCLA where he received his Ph.D. in Astronomy. It was in California that he met his wife Janice and they married in 1978. After a post doctoral position at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the University of Colorado in Boulder, they moved to the Washington DC area in 1985. He worked at Goddard Space Flight Center until he retired in 2018. Here they raised their children, Jaemie Drake and Nicholas Drake, and had a life filled with love of theater, music, books, food, nature, travel, friends and family. He is survived by Janice, Jaemie, Nick and their spouses, Chay Halbert and Listelle Quintinio Drake, as well as Nick and Listelle's two daughters, Evelyn and Eleanor; and his sisters and extended family in England, Hong Kong and Kentucky.

Donations in his honor may be made to deathwithdignity.org or a charity of the giver's choice. In lieu of a formal service the family will have a reception/celebration of life in the near future.

The family will have a celebration of Stephen’s life at home on June 4, 2023 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Friends and family are invited to share memories of Stephen starting at 2:30 p.m. as well as joining us for a champagne toast. The address is 9012 Brierly Road, Chevy Chase MD 20815.