Coronado Schools Superintendent, City Council Member, Family Man, Friend
January 2, 1930-February 12, 2010
Dave was born in Chicago, Illinois to parents Edgar and Laverne where he was the second of their five children. Gerald, David, Judith, Richard, and Ria grew up in the south side neighborhood of Hyde Park close to Stagg Field and the University of Chicago. His early childhood was marked by the fact that the Lindbergh child kidnapping brought investigators to the Blumenthal home because of Dave’s resemblance to the child.
Dave attended the schools of Hyde Park K-12 where he excelled in the sports of football, baseball, swimming, and track. Little did he know that while running track during World War II at Stagg Field that the Manhattan Project was developing the Atom Bomb literally under his feet. His Dad, Big Ed Blumenthal, had played football on that same field in the 1920’s for legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg.
Dave graduated from Hyde Park High in 1947 where he then attended Wilson Community College and met a girl named Lola who was on the cheerleading squad. Within a short period of time they fell in love and were married on August 19, 1950. They then moved to Albion, Michigan where Dave played football and swam for the Albion College Britons until he graduated and then started on his career in education. He would later attain his Masters Degree from Michigan State University.
He started as a teacher and coach for the sports of football, basketball, baseball, and track in Byron, Michigan and eventually settled his family of Mark, Ken, Becky, Laurie, and Steve in the quaint little town of Concord, Michigan. Dave and Lola raised their little flock amid dogs, cats, rabbits, and ponies with plenty of fishing and hunting mixed in. With his experience in carpentry while working for his father-in-law (teachers had to make ends meet in the summer time), he would remodel and add on to every home the family eventually moved into while employing his “family crew”. Lola supported Dave as he climbed the ladder from championship football coach, to high school principal, and then Concord Unified School District Superintendent at the ripe old age of 31. Dave would eventually leave Concord having led the development of a new high school and gymnasium for the community.
Journeying out to California every summer pulling their home made trailer behind the Buick Skylark station wagon to see Lola and Dave’s parents …got to be a bit much. So Dave and Lola moved the family to Rialto, California in 1965 and once again Lola supported Dave as he climbed the ladder from teacher to Superintendent. This time Dave pursued his passion for coaching through Pop Warner Football while Lola was the Cheerleader coach and once again the “family crew” played their roles.
In 1971 the family pulled up stakes for a new adventure and career in the Ozark Mountains in Rogers, Arkansas. Dave formed the company Blumenthal Builders while Lola became the owner/operator of the local donut shop named of all things, “The Donut Shop” and of course the “family crew” played their roles. After rolling, raising, and baking thousands of donuts and building several homes, the West called again for Dave to heed the call of educational administration.
By 1976 Coronado beckoned as Dave became the high school principal and subsequently moved to his last career position as superintendent of schools in 1983. This proved to become the highlight of his life’s work in educational administration. By attending a State Superintendent’s meeting, he learned of little known piece of legislation that could replace many of the blighted buildings in our schools and community without raising taxes. With his leadership, the Coronado Unified Schools and the City of Coronado united to form the Community Development Agency. This resulted in the building of most of the new community and school structures that have graced the face of Coronado for the last 20 years.
After retiring from the CUSD in 1994, Dave was elected to the Coronado City Council and served four years. During that time he also coached football at Coronado High and helped form and coach Pop Warner Football. He also continued his active membership in the Coronado Optimist Club and umpiring little league.
One of his greatest loves was fishing which explains why every family building project was close to water. That’s why he taped a saying from a newspaper on a little rock which sums up his life swimmingly, “If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles”. This sums up Dave’s life perfectly because when Dave fished he always had his family and friends with him and that’s what Dave loved the most.
After reading this one might say that Dave Blumenthal was a man of great accomplishment. If that meant it was because of his family of five children, thirteen grandchildren, six great grandchildren and 55 year marriage he would agree. Devoted husband, loving father, grandfather, great grandfather, and friend, Dave joined wife Lola and daughter Becky in their heavenly home probably hunting for garage sales and definitely a good fishing hole.
A celebration of Dave’s life will be held at the David A. Blumenthal Sports Complex (CHS Gym) on Sunday, February 28 at 1 PM. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the David A. Blumenthal Scholarship fund, 830 Orange Ave Suite J2, Coronado, CA 92118.
