Obituary of EUGENE S. BLOSSMAN JR.

For Daddy Where are the words to describe and pay tribute to the most extraordinary, brave, honorable and marvelous father any two little girls could have been blessed with? Our dad and most of our family hailed from New Orleans and Morgan City, Louisiana. Daddy attended Tulane University in New Orleans, earning a degree in Political Science and graduating R.O.T.C. He then pursued a life-long career in the U.S. Air Force, and thereafter our adventure began. Mom and Daddy were married in July of 1954, and Eileen and I were soon to follow. Our family was lucky (most of the time) to live as military dependents in ten very different states and three years in Germany. Daddy loved what he did and excelled at it brilliantly for twenty-seven years. We happily spent our lives following my dad all over the country and beyond. In 1999, my mother and father finally followed Eileen and me to California, (although Daddy reluctantly). A family as close as ours simply sticks together. My parents settled in Placerville, California, and lived there happily for over ten years. Tragically, my mother then became quite ill and my father became her devoted caretaker. After my marriage ended, I chose to move (reluctantly!) from Berkeley to Placerville to help care for my mother and support my dad. Likewise, Eileen spent endless hours and days caring for and loving Mom. As I said, we Blossmans stick together! In June of 2011, my mother succumbed to cancer and broke all of our hearts into tiny pieces. Her suffering was ended, though, and she was with God. I then moved in with Daddy, and Eileen lived here on weekends to be with us. After several months, my father embarked on his second career – volunteerism. He trained for months to become a Stephen minister at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. Thereafter he joined Snowline Hospice, counseling and inspiring those at the end of life. This also provided their fulltime caregivers precious time to take care of personal necessities and get some much needed rest. While volunteering with Snowline Daddy became a companion of Charles McIntosh (Mac), a retired naval officer. They had much in common and became good friends. During this time Daddy also befriended Mac’s wife Frieda, who was Mac’s caregiver for many years, devoting herself completely to his well-being. After Mac passed away Frieda and Daddy maintained a friendship. Through the grace of God, these two consummate caregivers found love again. As my father expressed to my sister, “Just like when I saw your mother, I said, ‘that’s for me!’ ” After a few months Frieda came to live with us. My father was blessed with a new partner, and I was blessed with a very dear and cherished friend. We three lived together for six very happy years. On May 2nd, my father suffered a devastating fall and broke his hip. He had surgery and remained in the hospital for three weeks. Eileen, Frieda and I were finally able to bring Daddy home, but his condition continued to deteriorate, until on May 30th, 2020, our beautiful father died at home from congestive heart failure. He wasn’t suffering anymore and was with God and reunited with my mother and his beloved sister Marie-Louise and their parents, and all of our family who had gone before him. I know Daddy is very happy and well-loved. We just miss him beyond my capacity to convey. Goodnight, Daddy. We love you so and always will. Claws always lose.