George Arlen Bloom

George Arlen Bloom was born on June 13th, 1930 in Los Angeles, California, to 100% Polish parents James and Bertha Bloom. They were a family of simple means, but wealthy in affection and integrity. James Bloom was a machinist and a WWI veteran who also worked as a milkman during the Great Depression, showing much kindness to local families who could scarcely make ends meet. Bertha rode buses to work as a seamstress in a dress factory, also beloved by neighbors as well as her large family.

From a young age, George was an avid reader, boy scientist and adventurer, building a simple laboratory on his back porch, where he built a Tesla coil and performed many (sometimes dramatic) chemistry experiments and studied pyrotechnics. As a teenager, he would frequently sling his 22 rifle across his back and jump on his motorcycle to ride across town and out into the desert, where he eventually staked a gold claim for a number of years.

By virtue of a chance meeting at a gas station, George was invited to accept free flying lessons, and in turn became a licensed single-engine aircraft pilot. He graduated from Mount Carmel High School and went on to attend Loyola Marymount University, taking a job as a draftsman at a local engineering firm. In 1950, George enlisted in the Air Force, where he was educated as a mechanical engineer. In 1956, he was honorably discharged as an Airman first class and returned to his life and hobbies in Los Angeles. He loved flying and riding motorcycles, enjoying many airborne adventures over the mountains of Southern California and Mexico, once skydiving by himself on a whim, and once riding in a grueling cross-desert motorcycle race in Baja.

In 1959, George married Dolores Lamb in San Jose, California. There they lived for the next 26 years, raising three sons, Gregory, Douglas and Curtis, in the east foothills. Dad instilled in us strong values, integrity and perseverance. He shared many of his interests with us, including camping, fishing, motorcycles, stewardship of living creatures (including dogs, snakes and tarantulas), graphic design and invention, science and pyrotechnics, coin and stamp collecting, shooting and hunting, oil painting, photography, tennis, classical music and light opera, cooking and auto repair. He also engineered and blueprinted for us a custom in-ground swimming pool that we all enjoyed for many years.

George worked with several companies during his career, including Arrow Development, FMC and Westinghouse, contributing to such diverse projects as Disneyland rides, commercial aircraft components and clandestine missile defense systems. He traveled overseas as a Westinghouse liaison to the United Kingdom, and attended Santa Clara University in San Jose to receive his MBA as an engineering supervisor in 1982.

He and Dolores divorced in 1985, and George moved to Sunnyvale, California, working as an independent engineering consultant. There he met Esther Miller, with whom he shared a deep bond and later moved to Auburn, California. They remained together for the next 30 years until her death, enjoying their 'second act' in life and golden years. During that time, George rekindled his love of flying, enlisting in the Civil Air Patrol and flying missions for agencies such as Search and Rescue and the DEA. He also did a lot of painting during this time, and sold many pieces, especially of his favorite subjects, aircraft and scenes of the Southwest.

After Esther's death, George moved to Selma, Oregon, where he and his youngest son and daughter-in-law designed and built for him a small house on their woodland property. He loved being in the forest, working on various small projects, practice shooting and caring for his loyal dog Wolf. Dad lived well and maintained a healthy routine up until his death this year at ninety-five years old. He is survived by his three sons, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. George passed away of natural causes on September 19th, 2025. He will be well remembered and much missed. Thanks for everything, dad; we love you.

Please share a memory of George in his Guestbook.