LeRoy "Lee" Bloom

LeRoy “Lee” Howard Bloom, 73, died Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010, peacefully and surrounded by his family, at the home they built on Six Mile Lake. He was born July 8, 1937, in Racine, Wis., the second-oldest and first son of LeRoy Lewis and Lucille Ruth (nee Reschke) Bloom Celia. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1954. While home on leave, he got to know a neighbor’s daughter, Mary Jane Dowers, who remembers “how cute he looked in a uniform.” They married on July 26, 1958, just before he was to be sent to Newburg, N.Y. During his 22 years in the Air Force, Lee and Mary Jane would journey from New York to Tripoli, Africa, San Jose, Calif. and Anchorage, Alaska before he retired as a senior master sergeant at Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana, where he attended Ball State University. His specialty in the Air Force was mainframe computer operation. He and Mary Jane returned to Racine, where he managed computer services at Young Radiator Co. In the 1970s, they bought property on Six Mile Lake at the recommendation of his mother and stepfather, longtime residents of Iron Mountain. Lee’s retirement allowed them time to finally develop the site into their dream “cabin in the North Woods,” doing much of the work themselves with the help of their children. They spent five summers on the lake before moving permanently in 2005. The home would become a gathering place for their children and friends, and for their grandchildren to swim, fish and catch frogs and turtles in the lake. It also gave Lee an easy location to continue honing his fishing skills, already well established from chasing salmon and trout in Alaska, northerns, bass and panfish at Lake Antoine with his stepfather, Lawrence Celia, and perch in Lake Michigan with his favorite fishing partner, his brother, Ed. Lee took great enjoyment as well from the company of his grandchildren, “my dog” Sunny, Packers and Badgers football, John Wayne movies, gardening and a wide range of music, from country to bluegrass to classical. He joined the Lions Club while in Anchorage, Alaska, and remained an active member of the Crystal Falls Lions Club until his illness forced him to step away. He is survived by his dear wife of 52 years, Mary Jane; two sons, Gregory (Nancy) Bloom of Racine and Michael (Cara) Bloom of Waupaca, Wis.; two daughters, Elizabeth “Betsy” Bloom of La Crosse, Wis., and Christina (Ken) Colby of Waupaca; grandchildren Nathan, David and Jonathan Bloom, Chelsey, Caleb and Courtney Bloom, and Kaitey and Hannah Colby; three sisters, Judy Unrein of Racine, Minnette (Duane) Exner of Nekoosa, Wis., and Roseann Woehl of Gilroy, Calif.; three sisters-in-law, Louise Bloom of Racine, Barbara Cox of Wiseman, Ark., and Connie Tingwald (Ed Staal) of Racine; two brothers-in-law, Aaron Dailey of Racine and Donald (Carrie) Tingwald of Kenosha, Wis.; mother-in-law, Fern Tingwald of Racine; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Caroline Dailey; a brother, Edward Bloom; brothers-in-law Sam Unrein and Mylo Woehl; father-in-law Thurman Tingwald; and a beloved stepfather, Lawrence Celia. Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at the Zion Lutheran Church, W4703 Metropolitan Road, Felch. Visitation will be 9 a.m. to time of service at the church. Arrangements are being handled by Erickson-Rochon & Nash Funeral Home, Iron Mountain. The family wishes to thank Dr. Don Jacobs; Dr. Gustavo Morel; Dr. Kevin C. Scott; the staff and nurses at Dr. Morel’s office; the radiation oncology team at Dickinson County Memorial Hospital; and the many friends who supported him with prayers, cards and kind thoughts through his long illness. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be established to support efforts to restore a hospice program in Dickinson County. Condolences to the family of Leroy "Lee" Bloom can be expressed online at www.ernashfuneralhomes.com. The family has entrusted the Erickson-Rochon & Nash Funeral Home with arrangements.

LeRoy "Lee" Bloom

July 8, 1937 - August 22, 2010