Born in Cobleskill, New York, Fake lived in Rutherford, New Jersey from the age of one.
[2] On February 4, 1929, Fake was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey vacated by Judge James William McCarthy.
Fake was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 12, 1929, and received his commission the same day.
He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1951, and assumed senior status on February 21, 1951.
[2] He served in that capacity until his death of a heart attack on September 23, 1957, in his home in Rutherford.