Margaret Ann "Peggy" Miller Bloom

1928 - 2021

Niantic - Margaret Ann (Cavanaugh) "Peggy" Miller Bloom, 92, devoted mother, grandmother, wife, sister and friend, died Tuesday, May 25, 2021, after a short illness, at her home in Crescent Beach, in the arms of her family. She was preceded in death by the two loves of her life, David H. Miller and Donald M. Bloom; her beloved daughter Mary Ellen Miller; and her sisters, Jean Smith and Ann Buckey. Mrs. Bloom was born Sept. 27, 1928, in New Haven, the daughter of James T. and Gertrude (Graves) Cavanaugh.

She grew up in Morris Cove, and earned her degree from the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, Mass. She met Dave Miller after his return from serving in the Pacific. They married in 1950, and brought up three opinionated children with care and good humor. They moved to Niantic, year-round in 1972, where she worked for many years as a librarian at East Lyme High School. After Mr. Miller passed away in 1990, love came again, and her marriage to Don Bloom, also of East Lyme High School, in 1993, brought four more good-humored, opinionated children and their children, into the family. After their retirement, she and Mr. Bloom spent much of their time traveling the world.

Mrs. Bloom treasured her friendships as she did her family. She was a lifelong member of Niantic Bay Yacht Club and Saint Agnes Catholic Church. She loved crossword puzzles. She loved her home and welcoming people into it. She loved classic movies and musicals, and even as she struggled with her memory in her later years, would sing along perfectly, remembering every line. She never told a joke, but she always loved to laugh. She loved the people in her life almost as much as we loved her. One of the few sorrows she would express toward the end of her long life was to have borne the loss of so many around her. She now goes to them and to her Lord. She often quoted the last words of her grandfather, Harry Graves, who said, "I don't mind dying. It's just that I'm going to miss you all so much."

Mrs. Bloom is survived by her siblings: James T. and Gerry Cavanaugh of Towson, Md. and Rosemary and Lew Turano of Stamford, and Sedona, Ariz.; children, David H. and Susan Miller of Falls Church, Va., Jim Miller of Niantic, Sharon and John Ensslen of Bellingham, Wash., Steven Bloom and Barbara Goldman of Weymouth, Mass., Alan Bloom and Sarah Graf of Sharon, Mass., and Mitchell Bloom and Steven Capsuto of New York, N.Y.; eight grandchildren; ten nieces and nephews; and a great-granddaughter, Mary Ellen Miller, who carries forward the name of her late daughter.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 3, in St. Agnes Church, 22 Haigh Street, Niantic. Friends are invited to view the service remotely by visiting the funeral home website and selecting the "Join Live Stream" tab in the service section of Mrs. Bloom's page. Interment will follow in Union Cemetery, Niantic. The procession for Mass will assemble at a Visitation at 9:30 a.m. in Fulton-Theroux Funeral Home, 13 Lake Avenue, Niantic.

Donations may be made to the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut, 403 North Frontage Road, Waterford, CT 06385; and/or to the renovation of the East Lyme High School Planetarium to STARS to STEM, Inc., PO Box 616, Niantic, CT 06357 or via https://www.starstostem.org/donate. Please visit www.fultontherouxniantic.com for the online guestbook and to leave a tribute for Mrs. Bloom's family.