Dorothy Reese Bloomfield

Dorothy Reese Bloomfield, retired U.S. Public Health Service Captain and Veterans Administration official, died at her home in Bethesda on date February 9, 2022. A longtime resident of Washington, Dorothy Erickson was a native of West Pittston, PA. She received a bachelor’s degree from Temple University School of Nursing, and master’s degree in public health from Yale University. She studied Health Problems of Southeast Asia at Harvard School of Public Health. She was on the faculty of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh prior to moving to Washington in 1947 when she was commissioned in the U.S. Public Health Service.

Early in her Public Health Service career, she was involved in tuberculosis and venereal disease research and worked on the Navajo Indian reservation in northern Arizona. In 1952 she was assigned to the Department of State to serve in the foreign aid program in Vietnam. Working with the Ministry of Health she taught at the National School of Nursing. She also taught English to nurses and physicians in Saigon. She was responsible for identifying Vietnamese nurses who later came to the U.S. for advanced study. She was married to Everette Dixie Reese, photojournalist, who died in 1955 when the Binh Xuyen, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao sought to wrest control of Vietnam from Ngo Dinh Diem. Reese was the second of 135 photographers who were to lose their lives in Indochina. His work and theirs was featured in the memorial book, REQUIEM and the television film CAMERA MARTYRS.

After returning to the U.S. Mrs. Bloomfield was a consultant in the Division of Nursing of the Public Health Service. In 1957 she developed instructional materials for nursing personnel in nursing home. Later she became director of the Public Health Service program for the construction of educational facilities for schools of nursing. She was Director of the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs funding initiatives in computer technology in medicine, physician assistant and other emerging health profession programs.

After retiring in 1977 she was a consultant in the Office of Academic Affairs of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Among her responsibilities were the development of postdoctoral training programs for physicians in geriatrics which became the forerunner of certification in geriatric medicine. Later she administered a program of scholarships for nursing students. She retired from the Veterans Administration in 1985.

In 1987 she married Arthur I. Bloomfield, professor emeritus of economics, University of Pennsylvania. They moved to Bethesda in 1996. In retirement Mrs. Bloomfield traveled extensively and had visited sixty-five countries. She also pursued numerous cultural and artistic activities.

Mrs. Bloomfield had been a member of the choir of Our Lady of Victory Church in Washington for twenty-four years. She was active in the Maryland Continuing Care Residents Association, a charter member of the Association of St. Francis de Sales of the Washington area and a member of St. Jane de Chantal Church where she was a Eucharistic Minister for residents in nursing and assisted living.

Survived by her son, Alan E. Reese and his wife, Dana Smith of Memphis, TN and several nieces and nephews.

Friends may call at St. Jane de Chantal Church 9701 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 from 10 to 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11 a.m. Entombment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to SOME (So Others May Eat), 70 O street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 or a charity of your choice.