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IN MEMORY OF MARY HOLMES BLOOMER

ary Holmes Bloomer passed away on
October 28, 2013. She was born in
MSyracuse, New York in 1941 and grew
up in a nearby community, Cazenovia. Mary
attended Wells College in Aurora, New York, and
after college she moved to Annapolis, Maryland. I
first met Mary (then Mary Holmes) at an annual
meeting of the Potomac Bonsai Association
(PBA). She became involved with Bonsai in 1975
and quickly joined in on PBA activities. Mary
was on the staff of the Library of Congress for years where
she showed deft organizational skills. She co-chaired the
International Bonsai Convention in the District of Columbia
in 1976. She served on PBA’s board for many years and also as
Vice President, President, and chairperson of two PBA annual
symposia. She also edited the PBA newsletter.
In 1984, Mary co-chaired the American Bonsai Society (ABS)
symposium in Maryland and in 1985 she organized and
chaired the first National Bonsai Foundation (NFB) fund-
raiser. This event was crucial to early efforts for the John Y.
Naka Pavilion for American Bonsai. Mary served on the Board
of Directors for NBF. When Mary attended the BCI/ABS con-
vention in Seattle, Washington in 1984, she met bonsai grower
and professional photographer Peter Bloomer. They were mar-
ried in 1985 while working on Timeless Trees: the U.S. National
Bonsai Collection, 1986, Horizons West, now available through
Stone Lantern, and introduced the full color album at IBC ’86,
the tenth anniversary of the NBF Collection. Mary moved to
Peter’s home in Flagstaff, Arizona and took a position at the
Flagstaff Public Library.
Mary and Peter became more involved with viewing stones
and in 1996, Mary and Peter co-produced and published the
renowned Suiseki collector’s book, Suiseki and Viewing Stones:
An American Perspective by Melba Tucker, 1996, Horizons
West, also available through Stone Lantern. Mary joined the
BCI Board of Directors in 1988 and became 3rd Vice Presi-
dent in 1990. After a stint as 1st Vice President, Mary became
BCI President in 1997. She has written numerous articles for
BCI’s magazine on Bonsai and on Suiseki. The last time I saw
Mary was in Italy during the BCI-IBS meeting in 2008. She
still had that infectious smile and large laugh. I was surprised
then when Peter told me that she hadn’t been well. She was in
the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. A few years later Peter
called to tell me that Mary was moved to a hospice care facility
since her health and well-being were in serious decline. It is so
very difficult to imagine since Mary was always very bright and
Top; Mary and Peter at home among the giant
cheerful. She spent most years of her life doing what she loved redwoods, Sequoiadendron giganteu, in northern
and with people she loved. She and Peter traveled around the California.
world attending bonsai and suiseki events and visiting friends Center; Andrea Schenone, Donna Banting, Mirella
and family. She has been missed these last several years. Our Schenone, Mary Bloomer, Chiara Padrini and Pe-
thoughts are with Peter. ter Bloomer after a day of stone hunting in Italy.
Bottom right; Mary and the late Willi Benz at a
By Donna Banting, USA convention in 2007.

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