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Dorothy Eben bloom

Dorothy Eben Bloom passed away peacefully at home on Sept 20. She was 97.

Born in Manhattan, Dorothy moved to Shelter Island during the Great Depression with her parents, Leon Arthur Eben, and Emma Dawson, who was a Harelegger.

A member of the Greatest Generation, she survived the Depression, the 1938 Hurricane, and the Second World War.

Dorothy was a graduate of the Shelter Island School at the age of 16, and worked for the Town of Shelter Island until she was old enough to enlist in the Navy. She was very proud of her service in the W.A.V.E.S. and was active in the American Legion and in women veterans’ organizations.

After the war, she returned to the Island and worked for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and several local businesses. She was involved with the Shelter Island Choristers, the Shelter Island Players and the ECW at St. Mary’s Church.

Dorothy loved to sing and dance, write musical plays, and never met a cat she didn’t like. She disliked automatic transmissions and drove a stick-shift car until the age of 95.

She is survived by a daughter, Nanette Elizabeth and her partner Peter, a son, Arthur and his wife Barbara, grandchildren Douglas Gambardella (Bonnie), Erika Joy Bloom, and Russell Mainente Bloom, and by her great-grandchildren Gabriel and Marianne Gambardella. She is also survived by her niece, Joy Bausman (Ed) and nephew Hap Bowditch Jr. (Diane). 

Services will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church. Interment will follow at the Shelter Island Cemetery.

Donations in her memory can be made to St. Mary’s Church, P.O Box 1660, 26 St. Mary’s Road, and the Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation, PO Box 547, Shelter Island, NY 11964.