The class is saddened to learn that Neil died of a stroke May 5. Neil was at a '66 lunch in late March, and his friend Robert Chester spoke with him a several weeks ago; he seemed fine in both cases.

Several moving tributes from classmates and family, along with selected photos are included here. Before the 50th reunion, Neil prepared this Flix '66 video which shows Neil's humor, love of surfing, and his family life. Please send any photos or thoughts about Neil that you would like to share with the class to 66_CommTeam@tiger1966.org.

The class extends its condolences to Neil's long-time partner Sheri Lang, his daughters Erica, Jenny, and Violet and his grandchildren Caleb, Theo, and Derek.

Neil and I were close friends while at Princeton (both WWS and Cloister Inn) and afterwards until he moved to California in the mid-'70s. We remained good friends ever since, but 3,000 miles apart limited our getting together in person to conversations and a brewski or two at major reunions. Neil, Doug Crase, and Steve Harwood were ushers at my wedding to Dorothy in a park in Lincoln, Nebraska 52 years ago.

Stories range from: 1) being stopped late one night by the police in Washington, D.C. as our car stalled going the wrong way on a one-way street and with Neil, Ken and Ruth Krosin, and I wearing togas; to 2) during his time practicing polarity therapy and acupressure massage, Neil showed up to lunch with a mutual friend and me at a NYC restaurant with his portable massage table on his way home later that day in San Francisco.

There is some good background info about Neil in his write-ups in our major reunion books and The History of Bloomfield Law Group, Inc. for a summary of his legal career.

Neil was one of the very first published "authors" in our class, co-editing a book titled The Community and Racial Crises published by Practising Law Institute in May 1966.

And from his 50th Reunion Book..."I have facilitated and attended several events in the Bay Area, including ones for our grandchild Class of 2016, and enjoy the new friends I have made this way - the 2016ers are refreshing and wonderful. I am very much looking forward to our 50th Reunion in May!" That was 6 years ago and the last time we got together in person, although we did exchange emails periodically.

I always enjoyed calling him for his AG gift as it led to an enjoyable chat.

John Scully

Neil J Bloomfield, thank you for being a pillar of strength in my life. Thank you for stepping up and being my dad when you didn't have to and for treating me like one of your own. Thank you for loving my mom and always showing your love and support through life's ups and downs. 

You were brilliant, kind, loyal, witty, and by far, one of the most amazing humans I've ever met. To say you will be missed is an understatement. They broke the mold when they made you!

I hope you're winning all the chess matches, surfing all the big waves, and wearing all of your craziest Crocs, socks, and cuff links in Heaven. 

Where there is great grief, there is great love.

Rest easy. We love you forever.

I have seen him save many lives in the water. He never stopped being a lifeguard in practice after his summers on Fire Island in his youth. After graduating Princeton and Harvard Law School, he worked in NYC for a big firm and then gave up the conservative east coast life to move to California, where he felt free to be himself fully. He had a hot tub place for many years called Real-ax in Fairfax. He spent most of his adult life living in the hillsides of Marin County, in Fairfax, San Rafael, surfing at Bolinas and Dillon Beach, ranching at his Dillon Vision ranch. Raising myself, my sister Violet Bloomfield, my step sister Erica Greathouse, and living and loving with his partner of 30 years, Sheri Lang. Running his own law practice, Bloomfield Law Group. He loved his work. He went out of his way to help many people even at his own expense, and in the days since his passing, I have heard many stories of gratitude to him. He was a tough adversary, inspiring awe in the courtroom, and a weekend hippy.

He walked the line between worlds in his personal and professional lives. He was one of a kind, with his own flamboyant style, wearing crazy socks and crocs, fun ties, and any colour suit he liked to work. Tie dye and suspenders for his days off. I have him to thank for not caring what other people think, having the courage to dance to my own drum, the ability to live life as an experiment. He celebrated every moment here and took in the complexities and difficulties in life as challenges to greet with humor and perseverance. Nothing was ever a big deal, just a puzzle to solve with a willing and capable mind and spirit and a few laughs along the way, the anticipation of an interesting story to tell later.

I am so grateful to him for shaping who I am, to be an adventurer of life and live fully. He was always truly, completely and unapologetically himself. He gave me a very special and tender type of love that I never doubted for a second, even when the waves of life crashed around us. I am left with an image of myself as a small girl, him in a velour robe, reading the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm to me in our Fairfax home. The coziness of his cuddle and the softness of his voice as he read to me.  Riding on a horse feeling safe and secure as a young girl in the saddle in front of him as we galloped through the Fairfax hills. Swimming on red flag days, because those flags “are not for us,” always trusting he would see me safely to the shore. He took me to Thailand, New York City, Cherry Grove, the Castro, Grateful Dead concerts, in my teen years, always committed to showing me all of the vast kaleidoscope of life, no part left out, opening my eyes to many ways of being and living, and opening my mind and heart to all possibilities. Those times so long ago will be forever sacred in my memory. He built houses and homes out of abandoned ruins and rose always like a phoenix from ashes at times when his risk outweighed the rewards. Our Victorian house in San Francisco, he painted in sunset colors, lavender, orange and pink, and I got the lavender turret room, a fairytale fantasy. His energy and joy in life and his creativity will live on in me. My home is by the sea. I am also one with the elements. I will learn to surf with my son, since that was something he always planned to do and never got around to. We thought there was still time. We can take nothing in this life for granted. I feel so crestfallen to have been so far across the world in New Zealand when he passed suddenly, that he had to die without me near. I have so much gratitude for everything. I will miss him forever. RIP my beloved Dad, Papakins, Baba. Neil J Bloomfield today and all days, I dance for you.