Rosemary Bloom

Rosemary Lela (Shadden) Bloom was born July 11, 1931, to Floyd and Vera (Alter) Shadden in Persia, Iowa. She attended a one-room country school until transferring to Woodbine Normal School. Rosemary would tell the story of having one blue dress and one brown dress that she alternated throughout her school years. Rosemary married her high school sweetheart Wayne VanArsdol in 1947. From this union she had three children. Wayne worked with the Harrison County REC prior to succumbing to polio in 1951. Working as a waitress at three different Woodbine diners, Rosemary met and then married Donald Marvin Bloom of Woodbine in 1953. The couple had three sons. She and her husband were co-owners of the Woodbine Twiner and Logan Herald-Observer as well as the then-daily Missouri Valley Times. Rosemary later went to work as a bookkeeper for Great Plains Lumber & Supply in Woodbine. Rosemary moved to Atlanta, GA in 1982 and later to Jacksonville, FL to be near her grandchildren. She moved to Tampa, FL and later Douglas, GA to be near her son Barry and his family. Like her husband, Rosemary was intimately involved in the affairs of her family, her church, her community and her country.

She was past Worthy Matron of the Eastern Star in Woodbine. She was a long-time school board secretary for Woodbine Public Schools. Rosemary was a Sunday school teacher and board member at the Woodbine United Methodist Church. She was past President of the Iowa Federation of Republican Women and third vice president of the National Federation of Republican Women. It was not unusual for her home to host politicians from throughout Iowa including governors, senators, congressmen and even a first lady.

While Rosemary could rub elbows with the nation's political elite, including White House dinners, it was her family and her community that meant the most to her. Rosemary was on the committee that created the former Woodland Towers –designed to provide affordable housing for area seniors while opening up residential housing for future Woodbine residents. Rosemary was involved in band parents, swim parents and any organization that supported the interest of her five boys. As her nest became empty as the children moved away, Rosemary went back to school, receiving a degree in interior design and opened her own interior decorating business "Home and Array." Rosemary loved to sing, garden, play the piano and travel – passing all of these interests onto her children.

Rosemary died on May 9, 2012, in Georgia at the age of 80 years, nine months and 28 days.

Rosemary was preceded in death by her parents, Floyd and Vera Shadden; two husbands, Wayne VanArsdal and Donald Bloom; infant daughter, Teresa Rose VanArsdol; son, Gail Alan Bloom; and brother, Ronald Shadden. She is survived by sons, Larry Bloom of Woodbine; Bruce and Debra (Ganzhorn) Bloom of Elkhorn, NE; Brian and Jodi (Smith) Bloom of Fort Smith, AR and Barry and Laura (Beddingfield) Bloom of Douglas, GA; six grandchildren, Dawn (Trent) Melcher of Elkhorn, NE, Jeff (Heather) Bloom of Lincoln, NE, Andrew Bloom of Pensacola, FL, Amy (Doyle) Daniels of Oceanside, CA, Ashley Bloom of Douglas, GA and Parker Bloom of Douglas, GA; seven great grandchildren; brother, William and Denise Shadden of Valrico, FL; and countless relatives and friends.

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