James M."Jamie" Bloom, Jr., age 61, of Oakley, passed away on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at his home. He was born June 30, 1953 in Oakley to James M., Sr. and Florence (Fink) Bloom. Jamie married Genelle J. Githens on December 20, 1974 in Salinas, California. Until December, 2012, he was pastor at Gateway Fellowship, Oakley for 25 years.

He was preceded in death by his mother Florence Bloom.

Survivors include his wife Genelle of the home, sons: Ryan of Missouri, Kyle (Brandi) of Oakley, Kael (Sara) of Hays; daughters: Kari Bloom of Tulsa, OK and Janae Bloom of Oakley; seven grandchildren, father James, Sr. "Jimmie" of Ottumwa, IA, brother Ron Bloom of Tucson, AZ, and sister Marthana (Byron) Newland of Ottumwa, IA.

A celebration of his life was held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, April 6, 2015 at the Impact Center in Oakley. There was no visitation. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials in his name to the Impact Center in care of Kennedy-Koster Funeral Home, P.O. Box 221, Oakley 67748. Condolences: www.kennedykosterfh.com

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James M. Bloom, Jr.

"My hero, the man I look up to more than anyone else."

Those were the words expressed by one of his sons to Jamie as he
slipped away. These sentiments ring true for all of our family.

James M. Bloom, Jr. "Jamie" was born on June 30, 1953 to JM and
Florence Bloom at the Logan County Hospital in Oakley, Kansas. He
graduated from Oakley High School, attended a year of college at
Vennard in Iowa before transferring to Seattle Bible Training School in Seattle, Washington.

While in Seattle he met and fell in love with Genelle Githens of Salinas, California. They were married on December 20, 1974. Jamie graduated in May of 1975 with a Bachelor of Theology degree. They remained in the Seattle area working as Youth Pastors for three years. In May of 1977 their first son, James Ryan was born.

In July of 1977, the Bloom family moved to Kansas to help for the
summer at the Oakley Community Church (later to become Gateway
Fellowship). Within a week of being back, they were asked to start a
Bible Study in Winona. That Bible Study ultimately led to the establishing of Faith Chapel in Winona.

While pastoring Faith Chapel, Jamie's desire was for Genelle to be a
stay-at-home mom so he worked three to four additional jobs, including
school bus driver, paraprofessional, delivering mail, mowing lawns and
working at the elevator, especially in the seed cleaning plant. The
family now included Kari ('79), Kyle ('81), Kael ('85) and Janae ('89). He was willing to make whatever sacrifices were needed to make that happen and Genelle was able to stay at home with the kids all through their childhood. Also during this time he passed the Emergency Medical Training certification and worked as an EMT for 25 years – a service he thoroughly enjoyed.

In the summer of 1989, Gateway Fellowship invited Jamie and Genelle to become their Pastors as Pastor Bill and Nina Omberg retired.

The Bloom family commuted daily back and forth from Winona to Oakley until October 1990 when they made arrangements to move their home from Winona and plant it in Oakley. What an adventure!

The love of Jamie's life was his wife, Genelle and their family. Jamie loved surprising Genelle with gifts, letters, cards, flowers and poems. Sometimes he would even pack a suitcase, pick her up from work and whisk her away for a surprise weekend trip. More often than not, when you would see Jamie, you would see Genelle, hand in hand.

Jamie was a huge fan of his children and never missed a sporting
event, music concert, forensics performance, debate, banquet/awards
ceremony or graduation. If it involved his kids, he was there; usually with video camera in hand. Every morning when going to school Jamie would tell the kids, "You are a can-doer. You're the head and not the tail, above and not beneath." The sacrifices he made for his family has created a close bond that will never be broken.

Jamie, or Pastor Jamie as many called him, loved the church and his
congregation. His vision was far-reaching and he visited several
countries on missionary trips.

Jamie's faith and love for the Lord never wavered, even through many
difficult and trying times. During his 8+ year struggle with ALS, Jamie did not doubt but faithfully served and trusted the Lord. He pastored at Gateway Fellowship for 23 years before retiring in December 2013.

Jamie was an avid reader, avid sports fan and a picky eater – peanut
butter fudge was his favorite! He was "Dad" to his children and
"Papa" to his grandchildren.

Jamie will be greatly missed by Genelle, his wife of 40 years and his
children: Ryan (son, Tyler); Kari; Kyle and wife Brandi (children Elliot and Bella); Kael and wife Sara (children Isaac, Judah, Kadance); Janae and fiancé, Ethan Kammer.

He is survived by and will also be greatly missed by his father, Jimmie (from whom he got his wit); brother, Ron and sister, Marthana and husband Byron along with many other extended family members.