Conrad Alfred Blomberg

Conrad Alfred Blomberg was born on September 5, 1923, in Mandan, North Dakota, to Carl Andersson Blomberg and Emerentia Pedersson Kalmar Blomberg, both of Sweden. In October the cottonwood trees by the stream beside the house turned yellow, lovely against the clear blue sky. How you loved to sit and gaze out the side door at this season. This year, your long life was ebbing as the leaves fell, and your spirit left you as the branches became bare. You grew up on the windy, chilly plains of North Dakota, born to Swedish parents, but you preferred a warmer climate. As a boy you rode the railroad your dad worked for, and visited relatives in the East. You started at the University of Minnesota, but World War II interrupted your studies as you joined the Army Air Corps, later the Air Force, and served as a radar watcher in Panama, prepared to defend the Panama Canal from a Japanese invasion. With the help of the GI bill, you graduated from the University of Minnesota, married, and began your varied occupations. I believe you would have identified yourself as a writer. Journalism was an early paying job, while on the side you wrote science fiction stories and a novel or two. Some of the science fiction was published. You represented the Rural Electric Association, and moved from North Dakota to Denver, then went into advertising. During the North Dakota years, you welcomed son Jon in 1950, and daughter Susan in 1953. You loved telling a story about Jon, early the night person he is now, standing in his crib, and hearing pans and dishes rattle in the kitchen, would inquire, ""What are we having?"" You were forever proud of the Little Susan, indeed a blond princess, and would display her photos of those years throughout your life. Jon tells me that the three of you rode horseback every Sunday morning. In July of 1977, you and I met at the Denver Art Museum. Yes, you were stalking me, but I must have trusted you immediately because I Let you give me a ride home. Soon afterwards, I met your daughter Susan and her husband, Matt Clark, who had just added grandson Paul to the family, followed by Nicholas in 1979. My daughters, Justine and Nicole, were 14 and 10 then. Your son Jon was now a CPA and working in Chicago. Before long we were happy to have him return to Colorado. You were looking for a new career, and I was amenable, and we decided to open a travel agency! This took a lot of research and preparation, and we had jobs, but we eventually got it together. Good timing! The airlines deregulated, and computers arrived. Onward. For almost twenty years we worked 60-hour weeks, including vacuuming and taking out the trash. We enjoyed discounted trips in the off-seasons (cold and rain) and loved cruises. You became Rocky Mt. President of the American Society of Travel Agents and a member of their national board. Their meetings brought us to exotic places like Singapore and Morocco. I know you delighted in visiting many places around the world, often mentioning that you never expected life to bring these adventures. During these years my girls and your grandsons grew, and we went to soccer and baseball games and school performances, graduations and weddings. In 1989 the Clark family collided with a horse on the road north of Golden, and Susan broke her neck. During her slow recovery you drove to Swedish Hospital every day and kept vigil by her bed. In 2004 Jon was in Phuket, Thailand when the earthquake and tsunami struck. You were researching air flights and packing your bag when Jon managed to send an e-mail to let us know he was uphill from the beach and OK. Meanwhile, in 1990 Justine married David LaFrance and in 1992 Sierra was born, followed by Devon in 1994. We were a babysitting team for the following decade, having fun watching them grow. In 1997 Nicole, your former football buddy, married Stryder and along came Zoe and Mia, the California girls. Nicholas married Megan in 2002, and they added Madasyn, Nicky and Taylor, who was born on your 84th birthday. Paul is now engaged to Lauren Schwenn-- I am so pleased you got to meet her. You liked crossword puzzles, Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, and Sherlock Holmes. Thanksgiving was special. You prepared the turkey and made the best dressing that family and friends ever tasted. Grandsons Paul and Nicholas would swing into action, stirring gravy and mashing potatoes. You also liked Rogers and Hammerstein, and loved the movie ""My Fair Lady."" You watched ""Dancing with the Stars,"" and award shows where you had never heard of the celebrity nominees. You liked to tell Ole and Lena jokes, and repeatedly connived to get someone, anyone, to say the word ""tongs"" so you could reply ""you're velcome."" You liked horse racing and devised intricate betting strategies, but were too cautious to place a $2 bet. Favorite foods included split pea & ham soup, pumpkin pie and fruitcake. You loved pets; the last was special, a marmalade tabby named Sparky who spent hours on your lap. I like to imagine she is on your lap now. In retirement you wrote and self-published fiction for teens and youngsters, employing your love of fantasy and magic, creating female super heroes to inspire young girls. You loved reading these stories to our friend Beverly's third graders. As your memory and mobility declined, you still enjoyed reading. You stopped doing the daily crossword puzzle, and plots in PBS dramas became incomprehensible. After a few falls you moved to the Cherry Creek Nursing Center where you received excellent care. Now you are at last at peace. Goodbye, my friend. I will always miss you. ~Nancy Conrad is survived by companion of forty years Nancy Miani, son Jon Blomberg, daughter Susan Clark and her husband Matthew, grandsons Paul and Nicholas and his wife Megan, great grandchildren Madasyn, Nicky, and Taylor. In lieu of flowers, please donate in Conrad’s honor to: Heifer International 1 World Avenue Little Rock, Arkansas 72202 www.heifer.org/child