BLOEMER, HELENE JO “JODY”
Helene Jo “Jody” Bloemer passed away peacefully on December 26, 2022 at the age of 84. Born on December 25, 1938 in Batesville, Indiana, she moved to Arizona at age 7 in 1945 with her brother (Stewart) and parents (Frank and Emma) who ran Frank’s Pharmacy in Phoenix for many years. She attended St. Mary’s High School and Arizona State University majoring in education. She worked as a teacher and educator for many decades across the world, including some time in Okinawa, Japan, as well as here locally at P T Coe Elementary and St. Matthew’s Catholic School. She especially enjoyed sharing her love of music with her students. She was a dedicated mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother who most enjoyed spending time and laughing with her family. She was an avid sports fan and especially loved watching the Phoenix Suns and Notre Dame football teams. She also had a great love of travel inspired by trips to Europe and around the world with her mother and brother. She is survived by her brother, Stewart; daughter, Stephani; grandchildren, Chelsey and Nate, and great grandson, Simon. Jody’s impact was immeasurable, and she will be missed by so many, most especially her family and friends. Services will be celebrated at Whitney & Murphy Funeral Home, 4800 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix, on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 at 11:00 a.m., with burial to follow at St. Francis Catholic Cemetery, 2033 N. 48th Street in Phoenix.
Deepest sympathies to my cousin Jody’s family. She lived life to the fullest.
Rest in Peace now! Gena Aslanian
Please accept my condolences to the Bloemer Family for the loss of Helene Jo . Although I did not know Jody personally I know her brother Stew, I pray for the family’s loss. Regretfully, I will not be able to attend the service and burial due to a prior medical appontment.
Our sympathies to the Bloemer family – we know Jodi will be missed !
The Kennedy family – Pat, Jim & Theresa
Sending my heartfelt condolences to the family. Mrs. Bloemer was my 3rd grade teacher in 1969. She was the best. Always smiling, always happy. She played guitar and would gather the class around to sing songs and make music. Very loving, gentle lady. God bless her soul.
My sympathies to Stephanie , Stew and families. Jodie was such a special person. The heavens are rejoicing as another voice is added to the chorus.
To the family of Jody Bloemer,
Our deepest sympathies are with you on the loss of Jody. She was a lifelong friend and classmate at St Mary’s high school where we were in glee club and the senior talent show together. We went on to college and we both graduated from ASU. Years later, we renewed our friendship at SS Simon and Jude where we were parishioners and my husband Don got to meet Jody.
Our St Mary’s class of 1956 has had many get togethers and Jody was a frequent participant. We all enjoyed getting together and catching up on the latest happenings in each of our lives. I remember one time how excited Jody was to be able to host a class get together at her home in the Sun City area. In recent years, my husband Don would drive me to the class get togethers and he enjoyed visiting with Jody and our classmates over lunch. Jody often talked about how gratifying it was to teach at St Matthews.
For some years, Jody would send out e-mails updating everyone on our classmate’s activities and we looked forward to hearing from her. We have many fond memories of Jody and we pray that the memories of the good times shared by her with family and friends will ease the pain of losing her. May the good Lord lay his hands upon her and may she rest in peace in her new home in heaven. She will be greatly missed.
Sincerely,
Carol Westfall McDermott and Don McDermott
I miss Ms. Bloemer! I was a student of hers in the 4th grade and while she repeatedly gave me bad marks for being a chatterbox in class she was one of my favorites! She had some great stories about hiking and was a true inspiration. One particularly poignant story was a hike with one of her friends and they had run out of food and such. Knowing that Ms. Bloemer was a diabetic her friend tried to forage and find food to eat. Unfortunately some of the mushrooms were poisonous and her friend suffered a tragic fate as a result.
I remember a day where she was out and her daughter filled in as a substitute teacher. Our class had a “show-and-tell” of sorts and we all made or brought a dish to share. One of the students made rice, but it was extremely undercooked. Hah. I don’t know why but that memory still remains with me forever.
While I haven’t remained in contact or remotely close geographically I still from time to time “googled” Ms. Bloemer only to discover this result today.
My condolences to the family. Ms. Bloemer will be forever missed!