Robert Dale Bloomquist

Bob and I were boyhood friends and I was deeply saddened to hear of his passing. Bob was always full of life and fun and will be sorely missed in this life. RIP brother.
Dick Weaver

I met and interviewed with Bob Bloomquist while he was first principal at Maltby middle school. At that time, Maltby was housed in Brighton high school an east wing. I knew at that time I wanted to work for Bob because he was a great person who cared about kids and that is what I was looking for in 1975. I went to Brighton instead of Jackson because kids were number one priority for Bob. He looked out for all of the kids and that is why he was a great principal. He opened and moved Maltby into the brand new building I believe in 1978. You could see the personal things he put in a new concept for a middle school, not a junior high. He was always kind and caring. He gave kids boundaries and they mostly follow them. He was best at finding good teachers for his school. We had a great faculty at Maltby middle school. Bob nurtured his all the time. I am indebted to him for creating my career at Brighton. He is the best principal I ever had. I had several principals in my career too. One funny note was Bob always referring to his mum not his mom. I believe it was a Pennsylvania thing! He automatically goes to heaven as a middle school principal.

In 1978 I left Scranton Middle School as a 6th grade teacher and transferred to Maltby as a 6/7 grade teacher. Bob was an innovator who along with his staff created a state of the art middle school! Teachers traveled from all over to see our building and learn about programs I believe his greatest strength was that he loved and understood middle school students! I retired in 2006 never having regretted a day I taught at Maltby Sincerely to his family Timothy Dobry

Mr. Bloomquist was the new principal at Maltby when I was an 8th grade student there, first year the school opened in the high school. He was a kind man with a vision for a school where children were part of a supportive family. I visited his office once, can´t remember why, but I´m sure it was due to some smart-aleck thing I did. I remember his treating me with kindness and respect in spite of my cocky attitude. He smiled and calmly counseled me. I didn´t really appreciate it at the time. I understood later. He was a true educator, one who knew that relationships were the heart of learning. He was ahead of his time.