Walter Blank, 81,of Ghent died Monday August 28, a day before his 82nd birthday, at Columbia Memorial Hospital (in Hudson) with his wife Jane at his side. He is survived by his wife, his daughter Leslie Blank of Brighton Utah, his son Larry, daughter in law Susan and grandson Dylan, of Delmar and his son Brian, daughter in law Aili and grand daughter Harper of Sommersworth NH. Walter lived an adventurous life with many various interests. He was born in New Your City and grew up in Poughkeepsie NY. He attended Poughkeepsie schools, Oak Wood School and graduated from the University of Vermont He lived in Poughkeepsie with his family for 14 years and then moved to the old farm in Ghent, which he loved, for the next 42 years. He grew up spending summers with his parents and sister in a cabin in the Adirondacks at Garnet Lake and grew to love the Adirondacks. Later, he spent weekends and vacations there in the same cabin with his wife and children and Garnet Lake became a gathering place for extended family As a young man he was an inactive reservist with the National Guard, but was called to active duty during the Berlin crisis and served at an Air Force base in France. He had opportunities to travel in Europe and one of his favorite stories was about skiing with an Air Force ski team and participating in a race in Spain against the Spanish ski team. Walter became an enthusiastic white water kayaker and enjoyed trips and racing on many different rivers in the north east with friends and the local canoe club and camping along side of the rivers with his family. After moving to Ghent he indulged in a latent interest in horses and owned several quarter horses which he and his sons showed in New York and New England. He led a 4H horse club and the NYS Quarter Horse youth team which he took to a national competition in Ohio He spent many winter weekends with his family skiing at Gore Mountain and he passed his passion for skiing on to his children. It was a sport he enjoyed throughout his lifetime (especially skiing in Utah with his daughter and watching his son ski race.) He always enjoyed fishing, hiking and camping in the Adirondacks with family and friends and began leading trips for other groups including the Sierra Club in the high peaks area. He often said one of his regrets was that he only climbed 40 of the Adirondack high peaks and did not complete all 46. He later expanded his trips to include cross country skiing, and developed a small business leading wilderness tours into the area. After giving up the ski tours he became a ski instructor at Jiminy Peak and was proud to have taught there for 20 years. At the same time he expanded a long time hobby of making maple syrup from the many maple trees on his farm property into a small business producing and selling syrup both wholesale and at local fairs. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, September 6, from 5-7 PM at French, Gifford, Preiter & Blasl Funeral Home, Chatham. Condolences may be conveyed at frenchblasl.com.