The family of the late Jane Bloom, M.D., will hold a celebration of life on July 13th, 2024, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Eagle Crest Golf Club at 1201 South Huron Street in Ypsilanti. Memories will be shared, and a buffet will be served in her honor. Those interested in attending are invited to RSVP to Jane’s daughter, Miki Bloom, at [email protected] by June 22nd, 2024.

An article sharing Jane’s powerful story appeared in the Spring 2023 edition of the CEW+ News magazine after her death in 2022. CEW+ invites you to remember this strong, inspiring woman by re-visiting the article below.

CEW+ remembers and honors the late Jane M. Bloom, M.D., a longtime friend of the Center who passed away in September 2022. After attending college and medical school in her 40s, Jane became deeply committed to the value of education, a cause that she and her late husband Bill would continue to support throughout their lives. 

When in 1964 Jane entered U-M as a freshman, Jane did not fit the profile of a traditional student. A chicken farmer’s wife and mother of 10, Jane drove an egg delivery truck to campus rather than living in the dorm with other students. She demanded to be taken seriously in the pursuit of her goal to become a doctor: “She intends to become a physician,” her admissions counselor and mentor Paul Brubacker wrote of her in 1964. “Let no one tell her otherwise.”

Jane felt compelled to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor, but she also knew that she would face sexist discrimination along the way. Jane was the second student to seek help from CEW+, then called the Center for the Continuing Education of Women and housed in a Michigan League broom closet. At the Center, Jane found friendship as well as financial support. The Center’s Director at the time, Jean Campbell, wrote a $100 personal check to cover Jane’s medical school applications. Jane graduated with an undergraduate degree in 1968, and then realized her dream to earn an M.D. from U-M in 1974. She then worked for over two decades as an emergency medicine physician. 

Jane continually acknowledged that her remarkable story was made possible with the support of her community, including CEW+. In a 1994 profile of Jane in Michigan Today, Jane offers the following advice to students: “There must be support — from family, friends, and outside sources such as CEW. Mentors are vitally important. My models were many: any sex, any race, any age.” 

In 2007, Jane and Bill established the Jane and Bill Bloom Scholarship to give back to the Center that had once supported her. Over the years, their generosity has supported 17 scholars through the CEW+ Scholarships program. The Jane and Bill Bloom Scholarship has most recently supported 2022 CEW+ Scholar Savanna Clore, a dental hygiene student who, like Jane, is returning to school after becoming a mother.

Jane’s daughter Miki Bloom says Jane relished meeting her scholarship recipients, and was delighted when CEW+ began offering scholarships to students of all genders. Miki remembers her mother as “open-minded and accepting of everybody and everything,” she says, “and these were values she instilled in her children.”

Jane’s story shows that a university education transforms not just the life of one student but ripples throughout an entire community. When Jane enrolled in medical school, women were a minority. Because of her perseverance, she was better able to support her family, she served as a physician, and she has contributed to the education of so many CEW+ Scholars. Her bravery and generosity have left an indelible mark.