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Stephen Roth Blum

December 12, 1939 - October 28, 2023
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Stephen Roth Blum passed away on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at his home with his family in Kensington, California. He was a kind and gentle person with a wry sense of humor who touched the lives of everyone who met him. He lived a life filled with a commitment to social justice issues and aContinue Reading

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Tree 15 trees were planted in memory of Stephen Blum
Anonymous left a message on November 25, 2023:
We are thinking of you and remembering your laugh and humor on the special occasion of your birthday. We miss you. All our love Helen and Sean.
Anonymous left a message on November 25, 2023:
We miss Stephen. In honor of him we plant these 3 trees. We love all of you so very much. Helen and Sean
Anonymous left a message on November 20, 2023:
Your memory is indeed a blessing to all whove worked with, been aided by, or known you as a friend or family member.
Anonymous left a message on November 20, 2023:
Stephen lives on in trees that provide beauty, shade, fresh air and enjoyment for years to come.
Larry Dickey left a message on November 16, 2024:
It has been a little over a year now since Steve passed and I would like to share the remembrance of him that I gave at his funeral. I will always miss him. Steve was my best friend for almost exactly 50 years. We met in 1973 when I began the Dual Degree Program in the Experimental Program in Health and Medical Sciences at UC Berkeley. My dual degrees were in Social Welfare and Health and Medical Sciences, for which I received two masters degrees when I graduated in 1976. In addition to official diplomas, at that time I also received a special homemade diploma that I l have to this day. It was signed by Steve, who was the assistant director of the dual degree program, and others. When I pulled it out just yesterday I noticed that Steve had slipped in a fortune cookie prediction that I had forgotten about. It read “Your road will be made smooth for you by good friends.” He couldn’t have been more right about friends because he was the best of them over the next five decades and about the importance of the road. But I’ll get to that shortly. There basically wasn’t anything that Steve would not do for me. I remember when I got my first job as a social worker in San Mateo County in 1977 he spent what seemed like hours driving the full extent of the El Camino Real with me marveling at the endless string of burger joints and fast food restaurants on that boulevard. No worry, it was my first professional job and he just wanted to be there to help and to share the experience. He repeated the feat many years later when he drove across the country with me when I got a job in the federal government in Washington, DC. Five days of constant rain and sleeping in motels but Steve gladly did this for me. Later when I worked 25 years in Sacramento he commuted every 2-3 weeks to meet me someway half way for dinner in the central valley. The road was literally an integral part of our relationship. As a good friend he encouraged me to pursue my dreams and he took joy in my every accomplishment. When I decided to go back to Berkeley (after the dual degree program) for premed studies he arranged for me to inherit a great rent controlled apartment next to campus from a friend who was moving out. And I remember how happy he was when I told him that I had done well on the MCAT, the Medical School Admission Test. Then, when I started medical school in 1980 he flew to Cleveland to help me through one particularly hard time. Those of you who know Cleveland know how much of a sacrifice that must have been. But Steve would not think twice about doing that for me. There was very little we didn’t share in the last 50 years. We were best men at each other’s weddings, which took place in the same venue in El Cerrito 3 years apart in 1985 and 1988. We were present at the birth of each other’s children—Brian and Michelle for me, and Beth and Amy for him. For Beth I served as the official delivery room photographer, a role that may have been just a bit too revealing for Lorraine. I was not invited back in that role when Amy came. Believe it or not, Steve was a volunteer Berkeley cop in the 1970s and he arranged for me to do a ride along with a fellow cop—an experience that went sideways when the fellow cop tried to teach me how to use his shotgun just in case he got into trouble. Luckily he did not get into trouble. Steve received a lot of credit from regular officers when he proved his worth by knocked a knife out of the hand of a person who was resisting arrest. That was a part of Steve that always amazed me. Later when I worked nights on call at Laguna Honda Hospital I returned the favor by arranging for him to followed me around seeing patients, sort of like doing a ride along. This was before HIPAA. He was comfortable in both the medical and law enforcement worlds and for several years gave a lecture around the country that he called “Cops and Docs.” He was nine years older and when I look back now at who gave what to whom, I realize that he was somewhat the older brother who provided me with the support and encouragement when my own older brother could do that. In fact, he helped me deal with my older brother’s problems and personal problems. In short, I will be lost without him and always be grateful for all he gave to me. Thank you Steve and thank you Lorraine, Beth and Amy for sharing your wonderful husband and father with me. Laqrry Dickey
Peace of mind is a call away. We’re here when you need us most.
Susan (HOLLY) Stocking left a message on April 27, 2024:
My heart goes out to the family -- especially to Stephen's beloved family, about whom he spoke with such fondness when we talked over the years. I can't begin to imagine the hole his leaving has left in your lives! Stephen and I grew close while he was studying philosophy at Northwestern. Even then, he was a remarkable fellow, an intellectual BMOC (Big Man on Campus) -- deeply thoughtful and socially involved, devouring Existentialist philosophy in and out of the classroom, and running both an Upward Bound program for kids in the Chicago area and the campus film society. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that his life has touched the lives of so many others, in so many different arenas, in the years since. Stephen enriched my own life in ways I continue to value --helping, among may other things, to launch a life-long interest in all matters philosophical and in the challenges of so many fellow citizens burdened by systemic inequities. His passionate example has been a source of inspiration in my own more modest forms of activism, and I am deeply grateful. For as long as I knew Stephen, he signed up letters and ended conversations with the simple words, "Be well." It's no longer possible to say that in return, so let me say instead: Rest well, olde friend. Rest well. I will miss knowing you are in the world. Sue (aka HOLLY)
Connie and Stan Weisner left a message on January 2, 2024:
A loving, gracious man who the world will dearly miss.
A memorial tree was planted in memory of Stephen Blum . Plant a Tree
Mary Aviles left a message on November 30, 2023:
"Unable are the Loved to die/ For Love is Immortality." Emily Dickinson.
A memorial tree was planted in memory of Stephen Blum . Plant a Tree
Sherie and Sam Libber and family left a message on November 26, 2023:
We will always remember Stephen's kind, soft-spoken manner and long list of life achievements. We are thinking of Lorraine, Beth, Amy and Sadie.
A memorial tree was planted in memory of Stephen Blum . Plant a Tree
Tai Chang left a message on November 21, 2023:
I'm saddened to hear about Stephen's passing, and wish to express my condolences to his loved ones. I was a colleague of Stephen's in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University from 2005 (my first year) until about 2014, which I think is the year Stephen retired. Stephen set the bar at our university for speaking truth to power. He cared deeply about social justice, and he never hesitated to speak up. And participate. I remember that, like me, he was a member of the Asian American Psychological Association; but, unlike me, he wasn't Asian American (or if he was, he never talked about it). I remember being a little surprised by it at first, but not that surprised, and then I just incorporated that into my view of who Stephen was. He cared out others' well-being and about injustice, and that caring and advocacy went far beyond his own identity. He was not only a role model, but his speaking out about issues in our university made it safer for others to speak out. He set the bar so high that, when others spoke out about things, they weren't perceived as extreme. I don't know whether Stephen thought about his voice in this way, but he really had a good impact on others and I appreciated him for that. I have fond and good memories of Stephen, and I just wanted to share some of these memories with his loved ones. Thank you. Warmly, Tai Chang
With love from Sara Gros-Cloren & Joseph Cloren left a message on November 20, 2023:
In memory of a wonderful man, Stephen Blum
A memorial tree was planted in memory of Stephen Blum . Plant a Tree
Ellen B. Gold left a message on November 20, 2023:
Stephen was one of the most kind, sensitive and thoughtful people I have ever known. His family was always first and foremost in his caring, attention and thinking, but friends and social justice were also paramount in his thoughts. He made anyone who entered his home feel welcome and a part of the family, which is how he treated me when we first met, when he helped me get into my rental house after I locked myself out when I first came to Berkeley, nearly 20 years later when he and Lorraine helped me through my father's recent death and at every holiday and dinner at their house when he provided insightful questions, discussion and commentary. He will truly be missed, but wonderful memories of him will live on.
Anonymous left a message on November 20, 2023:
A memorial tree was planted in memory of Stephen Blum . Plant a Tree
Diane Zelman left a message on November 19, 2023:
As our colleague at CSPP he was so kind and committed to students, a support to me as a new professor, and an unflagging proponent of social justice.
A memorial tree was planted in memory of Stephen Blum . Plant a Tree
Sunset View Mortuary left a message:
Please accept our deepest condolences for your family's loss.
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