jews d
in
the
looking back
Three Generations Of Pediatricians
BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ABOVE: Three genera-
tions: Robert, Natalie and
George Blum.
N
ext year, Natalie Blum, D.O.,
will become a pediatrician.
Her father, Robert Blum, D.O.,
has been a pediatrician since 1994. His
father, George Blum, M.D., has been in
pediatric practice since 1960, and his
father …
Well, the Blum pediatric dynasty
goes back only three generations so far.
George Blum’s father was an immigrant
from Hungary who made his living as a
waiter.
George Blum of Bloomfield Hills
was born in Detroit and graduated
from Wayne State University and the
University of Michigan Medical School.
He has fond memories of his own
for a while, but kids are just more fun!”
pediatrician. “He always seemed to
he said.
make me feel better when I was sick,
His daughter, Natalie, 29, is starting
and that was in the days before antibiot-
the final year of her pediatrics resi-
ics,” he said.
dency at St. John Providence Hospital in
He joined a pediatrics practice start-
Detroit. She always knew she wanted to
ed in the late 1940s by John Pollack,
be a pediatrician, said her father. “She
chief of staff at Children’s Hospital of
Michigan, and Samuel Bernstein, chief
has always loved kids, and she was a
of pediatrics at Sinai Hospital of Detroit, kid-magnet,” he said.
whose offices were near Seven Mile and
When Natalie was in high school,
Curtis in Detroit.
she helped in the office by taking and
When the doctors moved to
transcribing patient histories. Her father
Southfield in the mid-1960s, they named and grandfather both hope she’ll join
their practice Southfield Pediatrics.
them in practice when she finishes her
The nine-doctor practice still uses that
residency.
name, even though its offices are now in
Robert Blum’s other children chose
Bingham Farms and Novi.
different career paths. Madeline, 27, is a
Robert Blum says his father was an
social work student at U-M. Cameron,
excellent role model. “I haven’t met
23, graduated from U-M and works as
anyone who enjoys work as much as he
a researcher at Walt Disney World in
Florida. Weston, 21, just graduated from
does,” he said. At 86, George still goes to
U-M with a degree in screenwriting and
the office and sees patients every day.
is headed to California.
His wife, Joyce, had her hands full rais-
Another of George’s grand-
ing their five children.
children, Henry Moss, Kathy’s
Robert, 56, of Beverly Hills is
son, has one year left at U-M
the only one of those children
Medical School, but so far, he is
who followed George into medi-
planning to specialize in emer-
cine, though daughter Kathy
gency medicine.
Moss is a pediatric nurse.
The Blums have many young
Robert remembers toddling
patients whose parents were
around as a preschooler with a
patients themselves a genera-
toy doctor’s bag, but he didn’t
Henry Moss
tion ago. George has even start-
initially plan on a medical career.
ed to see some grandchildren
After graduating from U-M and
of his earliest patients.
working as a stockbroker for a
“I know some doctors are discour-
few years, he returned to college for the
aging their children from going into
prerequisite science courses and then
medicine because it takes so long, it’s so
went to medical school at Des Moines
difficult and it’s so expensive, but I think
University. He joined his father’s prac-
[being a pediatrician] is the best thing
tice in 1994.
that ever happened to me,” George said.
“I always wanted to do primary care,
“I enjoy it every day.” •
and I thought about internal medicine
From the DJN
Davidson Digital Archive
L
ast week, I was on Mackinac Island for the Detroit
Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Mackinac Policy
Conference. It was a very interesting event, to be sure.
Moreover, how tough is it to be Up North in May?
While I was on the island, however, I wondered about the
Jewish presence there, aside from what I imagine are hun-
dreds of Jewish tourists each year? So, I cruised the Davidson
Digital Archives to see what I could find.
Although the Detroit Jewish News generally
publishes news from Metro Detroit, it has
a long history of writing stories about Jews
from every corner of Michigan. I figured I
would find something in the archives.
At first, I was a bit disappointed. There
were only four stories that mentioned the
congregation on the island: Kehillat Hatzav
Mike Smith
Hagadol.
This is the congregation of the
Detroit Jewish News
“Large
Turtle.
” Because Mackinac is an
Foundation Archivist
Indian word for “large turtle,” the congrega-
54
June 7 • 2018
jn
tion was named with this in mind. But, there is a very good
reason there are only four mentions of the congregation in the
JN’s last 75 years. Founded in 2006, Kehillat Hatzav Hagadol is
only 12 years old.
To be sure, there have been Jews on the island since
the Revolutionary War. For one historic example, Ezekiel
Solomon was a locally famous Jewish fur trader who oper-
ated on Mackinac Island from 1761 until the end of the 18th
century. However, there wasn’t a congregation until Kehillat
Hatzav Hagadol.
There was one very good story in the Oct 20, 2011, issue of
JN about the donation of a Sefer Torah for the congregation. It
also has a lovely photo of the Torah, with smiling members of
Kehillat Hatzav Hagadol and its rabbi, traveling in Mackinac
Island-style in a horse-drawn carriage. •
Want to learn more?
Go to the DJN Foundation archives,
available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.