SEQUIM — Entrepreneur and community volunteer Tracy Bloom died unexpectedly at his Sequim home on Monday.
He was 52.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the sudden passing of Tracy Bloom,” his wife, Michele, said in a statement issued Tuesday.
“Tracy was incredibly active in our community and his loss will be deeply felt,” she said. “He was a business owner and a community advocate and he will be greatly missed.”
Arrangements for a celebration of life ceremony will be announced at a later date. The family requests privacy at this time.
“Tracy was a man with a huge heart,” said Guy Lipsky, the Northwest Washington outreach coordinator for Salmon for Soldiers, who credited Bloom with having been essential for the formal organization of the chapter.
“If you needed something, he was there to help you out,” Lipsky said.
Bloom was a well-known businessman in Sequim. Among his businesses were Tracy’s Insulation, Inc.; Country Acres Early Learning & Child Care; and Tracy & Co., LLC Fishing Resort.
“He always had a vision,” said Scott Necco, general manager of Tracy Insulation, on Tuesday. “We were always thinking of the next project.”
Most recently, Bloom had opened Country Coffee & Grub, a drive-through and walk-up eatery in Carlsborg where he was one of the cooks. The business opened in June at 149 Valley Center Place.
That address is known as Bloom Town because of the buildings there that Bloom built or renovated through the years.
Bloom Town includes in its buildings Tracy’s Insulation, which he opened in 2006, the Hawaiian food truck “Da Kindz,” and Country Acre Child Care & Early Learning Center.
The name “Bloom Town” was coined by people who worked there.
“Everyone said it looked like a little village,” said Necco, who had worked for Bloom since 2012-13.
As the insulation business expanded, so did Bloom Town, and so did Bloom’s interests — which included cooking — and community service.
“He fell in love with Sekiu,” Necco said. “He even bought a strip of land there; had his own dock.”
Bloom contributed to Clallam Bay-Sekiu Fun Days, creating a bash for the annual celebration that turned into a fireworks show he did for the community, Necco said.
“We would get out there with a whole seafood boil,” Necco said. “We fed the whole community.”
Bloom also donated time and materials to The Answer for Youth (TAFY), Captain Joseph’s House and the BMX concession stand and donated to the Dream Playground in addition to sponsoring some high school activities, Necco said.
He was deeply involved in Salmon for Soldiers, a nonprofit that provides free fishing trips to veterans, according to Lipsky.
Lipsky and Bloom had known each other since they were kids in Port Angeles, and both grew up fishing, Lipsky said.
Later they both felt a calling to help veterans, and it crystallized into the group that has evolved from providing the occasional weekend excursion for veterans into annual trips for them.
“Neither of us served, but we felt that just because you didn’t, that didn’t mean you couldn’t help those who did,” Lipsky said. “They went out there and gave us our freedom.”
Bloom got Lipsky into the work, starting with Calm Waters, and once it dissolved, continuing with Salmon for Soldiers, Lipsky said.
“He has been one of the biggest supporters from Day One,” Lipsky said. “It it wasn’t for Tracy and Mark Ostroot,” another organizer, the group would not have developed as it did. He added that the two “pushed me” into developing the group.
“They made it what it is today,” Lipsky said.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
