Odin Bloch

Odin "Odd" Bloch went to be with the Lord on Sunday, September 22, 2013. He was 89 years old.

Odin was born in 1924 in the Norwegian section of Brooklyn, NY, the only son of Richard and Nora Bloch. Richard Bloch (originally Bloch-Johnsen; shortened upon becoming a citizen) immigrated to the US from Stavanger, Norway in 1922. A year later his wife, Nora and his daughter, Gudrun joined him. Odin (named for the King of the Norse gods) was born the following year. His younger sister, Antonette, was born seven years later.

From an early age, Odin's passion was aviation. He was a familiar sight at Roosevelt Field conversing with the pilots, spending hours examining planes and performing chores in exchange for an occasional flight. Following a devastating fire in 1932 the family lost everything and camped in a tent on Long Island while rebuilding their home with the help of their Norwegian Master Craftsman friends. A few years later, Odin's family moved to Long Island. He attended Hempstead High School where he met Valerie Diana Collier, who was selling tickets to a dance. Odin said he'd buy one if Valerie would go with him. She agreed and the couple became inseparable.

After graduation, Odin enlisted in the US Army Air Corps at the age of 17. Odin served on Saipan as a B-29 pilot and was promoted to First Lieutenant. He completed 17 missions over Japan. After the war, he returned to the states and he and Valerie were married on September 14, 1946 in Daytona Beach, FL. They drove cross country in an old LaSalle with a black Cocker Spaniel puppy named Kilroy to Odin's new post at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He served as a test pilot working with the team that broke the sound barrier. Odin left the Air Force in 1948 and attended college on the GI bill, attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

He joined IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1951 as a junior engineer. He was promoted to manager and earned his MBA a few years later. He bought his first home in Wappingers Falls, NY. His first son, Douglas, was born in 1955; his second son, Darryl, was born in 1959. In 1964, he was transferred to IBM's facility in Kingston, NY and lived in the nearby town of Woodstock. In 1968, Odin was transferred to Boca Raton, FL, where he was promoted to Senior Manager and helped to establish the fledgling site, which eventually employed 10,000 people and manufactured IBM's varied lines of personal computers. After first moving to an apartment on A1A for a couple years, Odin chose to settle his family in Circle S Ranches, a small western Boca Raton development with six other families that was built by the late George Snow. At the time, the development, one mile west of the Florida Turnpike, was considered "the boonies".

He retired from IBM in 1988 spending many pleasurable hours flying his Cessna airplane, cruising in his fishing boat "Two Snooks" in Boca Raton and the Florida Keys with family and friends, tending his ranch, and enjoying pool time with his children and grandchildren. He was an active member of the Sons of Norway and Advent Lutheran Church, helping with the Christmas festival every year. Odin was preceded in death by wife, Valerie; parents, Richard and Nora; sisters, Gudrun and Antonette, and their spouses, Edward and Tom, respectively. He is survived by his two sons, Douglas and Darryl; their wives, Paula and Sue; grandchildren, Annika Marie and her husband Brian; Sonja Claire and her husband Brandon; Darek Odin Douglas; Kristen Ashley; Kelsey Elisabeth Collier; Kari Merete; and great-grandson, Brayden James.

A celebration of Odin's life will be conducted on Saturday, October 5, 2013 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Advent Lutheran Church, 300 E. Yamato Rd, Boca Raton, FL 33431.