Husband, father, grandfather, geophysicist, bridge player. Born Feb. 8, 1919, in Chernovitz, Romania. Died Dec. 2, 2011, in Calgary of pneumonia, aged 92.
Robert Blum's childhood in Chernovitz was pleasant, since his father was the city engineer and provided an affluent lifestyle. The youngest of five children of Maximillian and Rosa Blum, Robert grew up speaking German at home, only learning Romanian in his fifth year of school. He also picked up Russian from a maid.
The Second World War interrupted Robert's university education. He was sent to a work camp run by the Romanians on the German side. The hard work and shortage of food caused him to consider suicide by jumping off a high cliff, but a security guard pulled him away and beat him.
After the war, Robert continued his studies, graduating in chemistry and physics, then working at an oil refinery. With his abilities in Russian and physics, he was encouraged to join the developing field of geophysics. He was soon leading an oil exploration group.
In 1948, he met the love of his life, Olga Silberman. They married in 1950, and had one son, Martin. Life under the Communists in Romania became harder. His elder brothers had moved to Canada, so with their assistance, Robert and his family followed, arriving in Calgary in 1971.
They found a small apartment and Robert looked for work at the age of 52. Thanks to a tip from a friend, he secured a job as a geophysicist with Shell Canada and began exploring Canada's east coast. After 13 years at Shell, Robert had to retire at 65. But he was too enthusiastic to stop working. He continued with several assignments – even finding oil with the new technology of 3D seismic – before retiring at 71.
Early in Robert's career at Shell, a group of explorers started a bridge group that met every other week, rotating from house to house. It became known as the Gourmet Bridge Group and had five members, with one member sitting out as "kibitzer." The most-told story from those games was the night the chandelier crashed down on the table right as a slam was bid.
Robert loved the game, the companionship and the food at these gatherings. He was instrumental in keeping them going for 35 years, always pushing to arrange the next game. He will be remembered for the "special hand" with which he became the "rooster," crowing while dragging his partner into an inevitable slam bid. Dinners at Robert and Olga's house often involved his homemade "screech," made from the juice of their homegrown raspberries with sugar and vodka to fortify it.
Old age and many surgeries took their toll and Robert spent his last three years in a nursing home, visited daily by Olga. Friends were greeted with a smile and sometimes a conversation in German. We are sure Robert is again the rooster with a glass of screech in his hand.
By Clive Watson, Robert's friend and bridge partner.