Mr. Bloomfield was united in marriage to Miss Dora Albert and
they became the parents of five sons, four of whom still survive,
Abraham, David, Harry and Samuel, together with the mother. In
1901 the family were called upon to mourn the loss of a daughter
and sister, Jessie, whose death was an irreparable blow to the
household. It was while still grieving over the loss of this
daughter that Mr. Bloomfield went to New Orleans, called there by
the sudden illness of his son, Moses, who was traveling through
the south for a Canadian firm. He was a young man of twenty-five
years and was looked upon in the community as a model young man
of sterling character, of the highest honor and integrity, and
of ideal purity in life. The father hastened to his bedside and
every possible thing was done to restore him to health, but a few
days after the father’s arrival Moses Bloomfield passed away.
This death following so closely upon the death of the daughter
was more than Mr. Bloomfield could bear. He died almost literally
of a broken heart, passing away in New Orleans on the 31st of
December, 1901, aged fifty-six years. The sudden demise of father
and son has been greatly deplored by the entire Jewish community
and especially by the Shaar (Hashomayim) congregation to which
they belonged. A beautiful memorial service was held at the
McGill College Avenue synagogue. The remains of father and son
were interred in a cemetery in New Orleans, but at the memorial
service in Montreal hundreds of their friends gathered to pay
the last tribute of respect and to thus honor their memory. In
his address Rabbi Bernard M. Kaplan said: “We have assembled in
this House of God from all parts of the city to mourn a great
and grievous loss which we have sustained by the untimely demise
of two most virtuous, most pious and most respected members of
the community, a father and son who under the most pathetic
circumstances found their graves in a strange land. The son,
while yet in the freshness and bloom of life, expired in the
embrace of a loving father who had traversed almost a continent
to gaze once more upon the innocent and serene countenance of
his child.” Rabbi Kaplan said that some would mourn more deeply
the loss of the young man--his associates and friends who were
closely connected with him--while to others the death of the
father, which had come as a more telling blow, yet by all the
death of each would be felt, for each was a man largely ideal in
his home relations and in his relations to his friends and to his
congregation. Mr. Bloomfield was a most devoted and loving father
as well as a most kind, considerate and affectionate husband. “He
not only loved his wife, but true to the teachings of the Talmud,
of which he was a great student, he honored and respected her.
His family life was an inspiration to every lover of ideal home
life. His modest home was a veritable sanctuary whose atmosphere
was permeated by serene peace, true purity, and sincere piety.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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