- Date Of Birth: 0002
- Date Of Death: 2016
- State: Minnesota
Obituary of Sister Clare Bloms, CSJ
September 17, 1923 – October 10, 2016
Clare Bloms, CSJ, was born in her family home in St. Michael, Minnesota September 17, 1923 to Clara (Zachman) and Bernard Bloms. She had five brothers: Kenneth (Romuald, OSB), Norman (John, OSB), Allen (Burton, OSB), Lewis and Roger. September 12, 1941, the day Clare joined the Sisters of St. Joseph, began the 75 years of her life as a CSJ- “years of joy, contentment, growth, years of friendships, experience and opportunities, years of gratitude to all who traveled with me.” Prepared with a BA in Education and Sociology from the College of St. Catherine, she taught at St. James, Blessed Sacrament, and Cathedral in St. Paul, and at Ascension in Minneapolis. In 1957 when she volunteered for mission in Japan, she was re-assigned to Hawaii, where she remained until 1970. There she earned a M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision, and became a beloved sister, friend, teacher and principal to many in the islands. Returning to the mainland, Clare taught at St. Columba’s, and served as principal of the grade school in Marshall, Minnesota for 12 years and as principal in St. Peter, Minnesota, for seven years. Then she discovered a new ministry in working with adult immigrants at Learning In Style in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To many who knew her, Clare was “so given, funny, outrageous and amazing, full of ideas, so creative and a gentle soul…” She came to live at Bethany in 2008 and to Carondelet Village in 2011. She died there peacefully October 10, 2016. Clare was preceded in death by her parents, Bernard and Clare; her brothers, Kenneth (Romuald, OSB), Norman (John, OSB), Allen (Burton, OSB), Lewis and Roger. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Verna (wife of Roger); nieces and nephews, Mary Hoffman (Ernie), Bobbi Dawson (Vern), Susie Sevcik (Al, deceased), Mark (Dorothy), Mike (Jeanne) and John (Christi); grandnieces and grandnephews; great-grand nieces and great-grand nephews, Judy Madigan, CSJ; Madigan family; Listad family; Sisters of St. Joseph; Consociates; care-givers at Bethany Convent and Carondelet Village, and “the people who have touched my life in ministry including staff and students.
