Thelma Louise Bloom

Thelma Louise Bloom, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and lifelong teacher of young children, passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, on December 5, at the age of 96. She dedicated most of her life to elementary education, homemaking, and church work.

Louise was born on October 1, 1929, in Walnut Springs, Texas, to I.G. and Thelma Berry. The family moved several times in her childhood, living in Blooming Grove and Waco, finally settling in Bellmead, Texas. She became the first person in her family to achieve a college degree after attending Texas State College for Women, where she married North Texas State University student Rudolph Lewis Bloom Jr. in 1950. Together they taught in various Texas school districts including Fort Worth, Crosbyton, and Springlake, before moving to Texarkana, Arkansas, in 1960, where Rudy started a career in federal government service, and then to Little Rock in 1963, where they lived the rest of their lives. (Rudy preceded her in death in 1989.) Altogether Louise taught school for 38 years, then served 17 years after her retirement as the librarian at Geyer Springs First Baptist Church.

Throughout her life she was an avid reader, belonging at one time to eight book clubs and subscribing to 19 magazines. Almost all of the books were donated to the library as soon as she read them, but she kept her favorite novel, Thomas Wolfe’s “Look Homeward, Angel,” as well as several Bibles and other faith-based works, especially those of Billy Graham and Corrie Ten Boom. She was also a sports fan, especially devoted to Arkansas Razorback basketball and Arkansas Travelers baseball. As a teenager she played basketball herself and fondly recalled her love of the game at a time when guards were not allowed to pass the half-court line.

She believed strongly in the power of prayer and made God the center of her life. She had a born-again experience at the age of 13, despite growing up in a family that didn’t attend church, and hers was an optimistic nurturing faith, non-judgmental, always shared in a quiet, gentle, compassionate way. Her love of life and willingness to help anyone in time of need made her the friend of hundreds of people, many of them from her church or her schools, many of them students who remembered her decades later. She was an inveterate greeting-card writer, sending thousands over the years to commemorate birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, births, and friendships with people who had long since moved away. She disliked the computer age, preferring to send personal notes written in her perfect cursive, which she could duplicate on any blackboard. She had no politics, believed that peace was possible through God and that everyone could “get along,” and when thrust into a political situation, which happens often in the world of public education, she prayed until she knew the right thing to do. She frequently said that God’s plan was better than her plan.

Louise is survived by her three children, John Bloom (Natasha) of New York, Jan Bloom Morse (Jeff) of Bryant, Chris Bloom Marsh (Phil) of Benton; her six grandchildren, Drew Morse of Little Rock, Matt Marsh of Benton, Stephanie Morse Murphy of Little Rock, Melanie Morse Warford of Benton, Mary Marsh of Haskell, and Preston Bloom of New York; and eight great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Presbyterian Village.