Celeste Dowling Bloomer "Cissie"

April 12, 1949 - October 26, 2021

Posted

Celeste passed away peacefully in her beloved home surrounded by family. 

She was born on April 12th, 1949 in Cornwall, NY to David J & Ellen P Dowling. She was a lifelong resident of Newburgh where she cherished growing up with her four siblings. She attended St Mary’s Grammar School and graduated from Mount St. Mary’s Academy, Orange County Community College, State University at Potsdam, then went on to do her post graduate work at SUNY New Paltz. Celeste spent years working as an English teacher in both the Wallkill & Newburgh Central School districts. After raising her children, she became the Director of Literacy Volunteers of America in Newburgh.

On April 22,1973 she married her loving husband J. Daniel Bloomer, who she met in first grade.

Along with Danny, she is survived by her daughters, Anne (Shawn) Miller & Mary (Brian) Bloomer-Konchar. Her beloved grandchildren Oren, Iris, Theo and Beau will be raised in her image. She is also survived by her siblings Deborah (Thomas) Agnew, David (Mary) Dowling, Christina (William) Centenaro and Cecilia (William) Cook as well as extended family, nieces & nephews, who all knew better than to “mess with Big Cis.” 

Celeste truly found her life’s passion when she began working with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh over twenty years ago. The years she spent volunteering with Habitat were the most rewarding of her life. 

Habitat allowed her to not only build homes, but also hundreds of relationships. She relished helping to lead the Women's Builds for so many years. It meant so much to her to mentor both the volunteers and families that were part of the program. Celeste often said, “Habitat does more for me than I do for Habitat.” 

Our Cissie was known for her love of Long Beach Island, her amazing organizational skills, extraordinary Halloween costumes with Mary, her partner in all things creative, and consistent punctuality. She was happiest when taking care of her gardens, building rock walls, decorating elaborate birthday cakes, preparing meticulously planned family holidays, wrapping the perfect present and spending hours at the store picking out just the right card for her family & friends. 

Our family often jokes that no one would have had a wedding, baby shower, birthday party or holiday without her. We will remember her everytime we get knocked down by a wave at the beach, make a list, drink a cup of coffee, rearrange our furniture or show up somewhere half an hour early. 

To know Celeste was to know her devotion to her grandchildren who she helped raise with a variety of nicknames, bucket lunches, stealth trips to McDonald’s and countless jokes. She was forever taking credit for teaching her grandsons a variety of sports, even if it wasn’t true. Her granddaughter Iris will carry on her talents for keeping everyone afloat. Cissie was thrilled to have been able to spend the last seven months with the newest love of her life, Beau, who brought her so much happiness over this past year.    

We would like to thank all of her family and friends for the steady stream of visits, outpouring of love & support over these past two years. We are so grateful to the Westchester Medical nurses and staff, including Dr. Fanucchi, Adedoyin Solomon “Dee” FNP, Dr. Moorthy and Dr. Pais. We would also like to thank Dr. Seth Levin, Dr. Mohammad Islam, and the Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties nurses.

Anyone wishing to honor Cissie can make a donation in her name to Habitat For Humanity at 125 Washington Street, Newburgh, NY 12550 and to Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties and Kaplan Residence at 800 Stonybrook Court, Newburgh, NY 12550.

One of her final requests was to thank all of the people in her life for making it so wonderful! Performing a random act of kindness would be a fitting way to continue Celeste’s legacy.

A celebration of Celeste will be held in the Spring. 

To send a personal condolence please visit www.Brooksfh.com