Washington County, WI – Tom and Sandy Blumenberg were both born in Wisconsin—Tom in Port Washington and Sandy in Waubeka. They met during their freshman year at Port Washington High School and Tom knew right away he wanted to “get to know that girl.”
The Blumenbergs started dating during their senior year—attending senior prom together. Tom and Sandy were married four years later on August 11, 1973.
Tom is the second oldest of five siblings counting three sisters and one brother, and Sandy has one sister. Together, they have many nieces and nephews and are blessed that most of their family lives in the area. Their dog’s name is Gibson—in honor of Tom’s favorite whiskey.
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Tom served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service for 20 years. He followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps—both men served in the U.S. Navy—though Tom is happy to say he outranked both of them. He hosted a radio show while in Whiteriver, Arizona, serving the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. In later years, he also hosted a show on WOJB for the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of the Lake Superior Ojibwe in northern Wisconsin. In 2012, he began interviewing veterans and recording their stories for the Library of Congress, the Wisconsin Veterans’ Museum, and local newspapers. He continues to write about veterans for Cedar Community’s Live More magazine.
After he retired from public health service, and holding degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, he worked for the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Northern Lights Public Health Consortium. After retiring in 2004, he began studies to become a master gardener.
Tom always had an interest in gardening after spending time in his grandmother’s garden. He shared that interest in botany in local schools and a community garden in Hayward. All the food raised was given to the school system or local food pantry. He still has a green thumb today.
Sandy obtained a BSN from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a degree from Columbia Hospital School of Nursing in Milwaukee. She worked in the operating room and ambulatory health care as a civil servant in the Indian Health Service and later in the private sector.
The Blumenbergs traveled a lot in connection to their careers. Over the years they provided health care to Native American tribes in places like Wisconsin; Montana; Washington, D.C., and three locations in Arizona. They also served as medical mission volunteers around the world including places like Nicaragua, and Sandy also had the opportunity to serve on a Mercy Ship mission site in Honduras and on a Mercy Ship in Liberia (western Africa).
CLICK HERE to read more about the Blumenbergs in Cedar Community’s Autumn edition of LIVE MORE magazine.