David Eardley Bloomer passed away peacefully on April 22, 2016. Born on March 19, 1923, in England to Florence Price Bloomer and Cyril Eardley Bloomer, David graduated from Haileybury College in Hertfordshire.
He enlisted in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (King’s 60th Rifles) as a Lieutenant at age 18. He was wounded in action, mentioned twice in dispatches for going behind enemy lines to recover the bodies of those under his command, and promoted on the field to Captain during the Battle of the Bulge. After the Battle of Remagen, crossing the Rhine, his regiment liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He was sent to Tanganyika to train the King’s African Rifles after the Armistice.
Discharged, he worked in Nairobi, Kenya, and later in New York with Standard Vacuum Oil Co. In 1957, he married Gertrude “Siddie” Shepard. They lived in London, Nairobi, New York, and then in Oley, Pa., in 1971 where David was President of The Survival Equipment Company. He was Rotary Club President in Fleetwood, President of the British Officers Club of Philadelphia, and a member of the St. George’s Society.
In 1997, he and his wife moved to Wilton, Conn., where David quickly became an active member of the community. He was a board member and then served on the executive board of Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County. He was an enthusiastic member of the parish of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. In addition to serving on the Vestry, he chaired the Thursday Luncheon Club and participated in the Outreach Committee for many years. A founding member of the Wi-ACT Committee, he helped relocate two refugee families and organize hundreds of thousands of “Stop Hunger Now” meals. He enjoyed membership of the Wilton Kiwanis Club and its philanthropic efforts.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Siddie Bloomer, his three children and their families: Jeremy, Martin, and Alice, their spouses Mary Bloomer, Wiebke-Marie Stock-Bloomer, and Jonathan Woods, and David’s grandchildren: William, Caroline, Christopher Bloomer; Cameron, Catherine, Lily Bloomer; Teddy and Andrew Woods.
A funeral will take place Monday, May 2, 10 a.m., at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 36 New Canaan Road.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Visiting Nurse and Hospice at http://www.visitingnurse.net/NHC-contact-us.html and Wi-ACT at http://templebnaichaim.org/index.php/tikkun-olam/refugee-resettlement-project. To leave the family an online condolence, please go to magnerfuneralhome.com
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