Tributes

Our dad, John Edward Bloom, left us Saturday, February 21, 2026. How do you describe the nearly 96 years of life he lived without it sounding like a dry list of achievements? Born on August 10, 1930, in Binghamton, NY to Dr. Meyer Solomon (“Sol”) Bloom and Helene (Sheldon) Bloom. He was predeceased by his older brother, David M. Bloom, M.D. of Sarasota, FL. He was dad to four children, Wendy Bloom, David (Dru) Bloom, Steven (Elsie) Bloom, and Amy (Ken) Holt as well as stepfather to Fritz (Karen) Stefan, John (Eva) Stefan, Jenni (Todd) Cox, and Matthew Stefan and uncle to Peter (Janet) Bloom. He had 22 grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren. He was married to Mary Judith (“Judy) Stefan, for forty years, who preceded him in death in 2018, and to Ann Marcia Feinbloom for 25 years. While married to Judy and Ann, he traveled widely, primarily across Europe and the United States. He was also fortunate late in life to have several wonderful caregivers who provided care and companionship and peace of mind to his family. He received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from the SUNY College of Medicine Syracuse. Following medical school, he interned at Cincinnati General Hospital and took a Pediatric Residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Hospital. He served two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corp. After the military, for decades, he served the Dayton area as a pediatrician in private practice and had an affiliation with Dayton Children’s Hospital. He also contributed in various volunteer roles for several local area nonprofits such as the Ronald McDonald House Charities Dayton. After leaving pediatric practice, he transitioned to another career as a medical director at Western Ohio Health Care, United Health Care, and CareSource. He retired from part-time work at CareSource days before turning 90! He taught as an adjunct faculty member at Cincinnati Children’s and was an attending physician at Wright Patterson AFB Hospital. Due to his interest in virology, he partnered with Dr. Gilbert Schiff, M.D. of Cincinnati Children’s in testing the efficacy of the Rubella Vaccine in a large school system. At Dayton Children’s Hospital, he served as its first Director of Medical Education, its Chief of Staff, and on numerous committees over many years. In 2006, he received the Wallace B. Taggart M.D. Award from Dayton Children’s Hospital for outstanding service for the health care of children. He was a voracious reader of non-fiction and encouraged his children and grandchildren in all of their educational pursuits. He had a lifelong love for dogs, particularly Black Labradors, during his marriage to Judy. He still enjoyed playing Soduko daily on his iPad, watching favorite golf tournaments, Ohio State football, and University of Dayton basketball games. For much of the last 20 years, he was an avid golfer, playing regularly with his stepson Fritz and a number of his golfing friends. He stayed connected with his family and friends by FaceTime and lived mostly independently until the end. Due in part to his Jewish faith and his upbringing, he was deeply committed to social justice helping to “heal the world” and protecting the most vulnerable. He avidly followed current events and daily watched his favorite news shows on MS Now. He loved competitive family games with his favorites being a rather aggressive multi-handed solitaire games, complete with sharp elbows, Monopoly games where he showed no mercy, even to the grandchildren, and Crokinole at the Holidays to which he would always proclaim prior to playing “what’s this game, I’ve never seen it before?” when he had been playing it as a child and of course he won more often than not! He had a wry sense of humor throughout his life, including as he faced health challenges in the last weeks of life with multiple hospital stays, he asked “Do they have a frequent flyer rewards program?” That was classic John. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to some of dad’s favored charities that benefit children, including Dayton Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House Charities Dayton, and Save the Children. A memorial service will be held at a future date.

Tributes

John Edward Bloom

August 10, 1930 - February 21, 2026