James E. Bloom of Richmond, VA, formerly of Worcester, MA, passed away peacefully on August 16, 2024, at the age of 82.
Jim (Jimmy) was a special human being. A true original. He was warm, wise, funny, charming, and gregarious…and he was compassionate, devoted, and deeply interested in others.
Jim was a gentleman, and a natural born leader. Incredibly bright and disciplined, he received countless awards and accolades from a young age through his long and storied professional career.
In business or in matters of importance, he was driven, competitive, and sharp. And in matters of the heart, he was as warm and supportive as a person could be.
Jim was no stranger to mischief, and he loved a good joke. And he was a serious and principled man who cared deeply about important things. He was a critical thinker who wanted the world to be a just place…and a better place. He espoused the values he held close, such as treating everyone with respect and dignity, regardless of their station in life.
He cared deeply about others, and he always wanted everyone to feel welcomed and seen. He was curious about everyone’s stories. He would befriend strangers…the waiter, the store clerk, the airline agent. He knew these small gestures and interactions were meaningful.
He was a mentor to many, and he was a giver. He would go to great lengths to help someone he cared about, or someone in need.
Jim loved the outdoors, his yard, gardening, and his animals. He understood and enjoyed the small, simple pleasures of life: the flowers, the birds chirping, the trees.
He had many good friends, with whom he stayed close. He loved flyfishing and starting an annual friends and family trip to Montana, which continues to this day. And along with a group of 7 friends, he started a quest to see all the baseball parks in America. It took over a decade and the journey was completed this year.
Jim was the ringleader. His friends called him “The Chairman.” And he was considered cool by his sons’ friends…no small feat.
Jim was proud to enlist in the Army and viewed it as an honor to serve his country.
Above all, Jim was an extraordinarily caring, devoted, and committed family man. He met the beautiful Marcia Policow at the University of Massachusetts, and they married in 1965. They have two sons, Michael Bloom and Andrew Bloom.
His loved ones, especially his two sons, and his two grandchildren, Dylan and Chloe, were the light of his life. He adored and cherished his wife, Marcia. There was nothing he enjoyed more than spending time with Marcia…or Dylan and Chloe, whom he doted on. He would retell stories of their wit and kindness over and over.
Jim came from humble beginnings. The eldest of four brothers, he grew up in a working-class area of Worcester, Massachusetts. He lost his mother at a young age, cared for his three younger brothers, and was the first in his family to go to college.
Jim received an Engineering Degree from the University of Massachusetts and was the President of the Theta Chi fraternity.
Jim started his career as an engineer at Electric Boat in Groton, CT. He then joined IBM and served in senior Sales & Marketing roles for many years. After IBM, Jim helped lead Jarvis Communications, in Richmond, VA, and built it into a top telecommunications company. He went on to have an entrepreneurial career having built and led several successful Communications and Technology companies.
He always dreamt of having his own home and his own yard. One of his proudest moments was being able to build his dream home for his family where they lived for almost 40 years.
Jim is survived by his loving wife Marcia (Policow) Bloom, his sons Michael Bloom and Andrew Bloom, his grandchildren Dylan Bloom and Chloe Bloom, his brothers Paul Bloom and his wife Marieanne, Richard Bloom and his wife Candace, his sister-in-law Sharon Bloom, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws. Jim is preceded in death by his brother, Robert Bloom, and parents William and Anne (Sclar) Bloom of Worcester, MA.
Jim/Dad/Papa was one-of-a-kind. He was a lion. An incredible man. He will be missed forever.
His funeral service will be held at 10AM, Friday, August 23rd, at Schlossberg Family’s Chapel on the Hill, 824 Washington Street in Canton, with the interment to follow at Sharon Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in Jim’s memory to a charitable organization of one’s choice.
Condolence(1)-
Jim Cooke says
August 22, 2024 at 7:35 pmIt was truly a pleasure working with Jim. He will be deeply missed. I called him Boss for a while but always called him Friend. I first worked for Jim at Jarvis and we bonded instantly over a friendly rivalry over who had better sales people Xerox or IBM. When Jim left Jarvis to join Tie Communications in Connecticut he recruited me to run the Sales Organization for Technicom. I accepted without having so much as an offer letter because I knew with Jim his word was better than any piece of paper. We both commuted back and forth to CT and wound up living together in a rented home. We regularly worked and traveled 60 hour weeks but Jim always had a joke and a smile never seemed to have anything bother him. He looked at everything as a challenge to overcome. As our friendship grew it expanded to include our families. Jim was the first to call and recognize the birth of a child or a birthday. We vacationed together with his brother Rick and our sons at remote fishing lakes in Maine. We fished later With a group on the Big Horn River in Montana. I don’t remember the fishing that much but I vividly remember the “Oh No” exclamation, the jokes and that infectious laugh. You couldn’t not have a Grand Time on a trip with JEB.
He is missed already!