Ex-Oak Harbor mayor spurred local activities

7/25/2002

OAK HARBOR, Ohio - Willard “Woody” H. Bloom, a former mayor who started a Little League baseball league here, died Tuesday at Edgewood Manor Nursing Center in Port Clinton. He was 88.

The cause of death is unknown, family members said.

Mr. Bloom, an Oak Harbor native, served on the village council for 10 years beginning in the mid-1960s when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. He later was mayor for 12 years.

“I think he did a very good job as mayor. He was level-headed,” said Pete Macko, another former mayor who served on council with Mr. Bloom. “I learned quite a lot from Woody.”

Mr. Bloom was mayor when the village set up a municipal building on Church Street in 1976 and when the village initiated an emergency medical services program. He also helped organize the village's first apple festival in 1979.

Even before getting involved with village politics, Mr. Bloom contributed to the life of the community. He started Little League baseball in Oak Harbor in 1958.

“The town owes him a lot for that,” Mr. Macko said.

Mr. Bloom talked to village businesses to find sponsors who provided uniforms and equipment for the baseball league. He occasionally umpired games.

He worked at the former Foremetal company in Oak Harbor for 32 years after graduating from Oak Harbor High School in 1933.

Mr. Bloom was a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oak Harbor, where he served on the church council. He was a member of the building committee when the church constructed a new educational facility.

He was an avid baseball fan who was easygoing and a good listener, his son, David, said.

Mr. Bloom married Florence Dunkelman in 1946 and she preceded him in death last year.

Surviving are his sons, David and Roger, and three grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The body will be in the Robinson-Henn-Brossia Funeral Home, Oak Harbor, after 2 p.m. today.

The family requests tributes to the church.