Frederick J. Nachman

My grandfather Meyer Bloomfeld (later Bloomfield) was an enigma. He went straight from high school to law school, but never practiced law. He worshipped at a Conservative congregation, but didn’t show much interest in religion, jokingly (?) stating he would never put butter on a ham sandwich. My grandparents were married 64 years, but refused to be buried together.

Meyer Bloomfeld was born January 29, 1897, the son of Abraham Bloomfeld and Sarah Wallenstein Bloomfeld. They emigrated from Galicia in the Austria-Hungary Empire in 1889. Meyer was the third of eight children; one brother and two sisters died before reaching age 2. His father had a dry-goods business that allowed him to send all five children to college.

After graduating from grammar school, Meyer attended Marshall High School, which then had a large Jewish enrollment. He most likely graduated in 1915. He went directly to Kent Law School. His yearbook from the Kent Class of 1918 states, “He hopes to enter the military service of the United States.” On May 28, 1918, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force.

Meyer was an ensign, with duties (according to the Jewish Servicemen Questionnaire) “Junior Watch, and assistant personel [sic} manager.”  The record states he was overseas for three months; he said his ship was stationed off Venezuela. From my research, it appeared it was deployed to keep German submarines from docking there and Colombia. Navy ships also kept lanes clear to the Panama Canal. Meyer was discharged on July 9, 1919.

The Navy uniform hung in a closet for at least 35 years (our daughter Marisa once wore it for Halloween) until this past spring. On May 9, 2025, we donated the uniform to Rickover Naval Academy, a Chicago Public High School, for its museum. Coincidentally, Admiral Hyman Rickover and Meyer both attended Marshall High School, a few years apart.

After flunking the bar exam more than once, Meyer spent his career as a women’s lingerie wholesaler. He passed away at age 89 in 1986. One of his bits of wisdom he imparted to my brother Frank and me: “Learn how to play a musical instrument, so if war breaks out you can play in the band.”