WASHINGTON — On Friday afternoon, a group of new friends gathered to meet for the first time at the Parthenon restaurant in Northwest D.C. The group had become a part of an online art group during the pandemic, and took their friendship from Zoom to a restaurant patio Friday.
It was during that first lunch that a car crashed into the outdoor dining area they were seated in, killing 73-year-old Terese Dudnick Taffer and 76-year-old Jane Bloom.
According to police, the driver was behind the wheel of a 2008 Subaru Forester. Police said they believe the crash is accidental and the elderly driver is cooperating with officers to figure out what caused him to lose control of the vehicle.
“The way I think about it is she died in the prime of her life even though she was 76,” said Josh Bloom, Jane Bloom’s son. “She died doing something that was very typical of her. Something a little bit new, pretty exciting, and the fact that she died the way she was living was such a wonderful testament to her life.”
Jane Bloom graduated with her second Master’s degree at the age of 60 and retired at 72. She spent her life advocating for the rights of refugees and migrants. Bloom retired from International Catholic Migration Commission. According to her retirement announcement she also founded Refugee Works.
“She was deeply concerned about what’s happening now even though she’s been in retirement now for a few years, she was fairly engaged,” Josh Bloom said. “People from that world were calling her up and asking for advice and she was leaning into this problem in Ukraine in a big way.”
Josh Bloom said his mother only accelerated in retirement, particularly with art.
“Over Zoom, she wound up taking classes and she was expanding her boundaries of what she could do and what media she would use and subject matters,” Josh Bloom said.
That’s how she met Terese Dudnick Taffer. Taffer was also involved in the arts. She’s listed as a host for a previous DC ArtTable event, an organization that advances the leadership of women in the arts.
Art and friendship were the common denominators for Friday’s lunch that ended in tragedy.
“I think the major lesson is that one needs to live life to the fullest. It sounds like a cliché, but she was emblematic of that,” Josh Bloom said.
Bloom said in lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to the UN Refugee Agency. You can make a donation here.
“My mom would like nothing more to know that in her death people were paying a little bit more attention and maybe helping and contributing in the way that they could to help the millions of people who are in desperate need right now,” Josh Bloom said.