Blum, Joseph John
Joseph John Blum passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, Virginia at the age of 91. He was born on February 26, 1934, on a tenant farm in Shelby County, Iowa, the ninth and final child of Joseph Peter and Mayme Kobold Blum.
Joe graduated from Iowa State University in 1956 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. It was while attending Iowa State that he met the love of his life, Janet Rairigh and the two were married in June 1956. This union would last nearly sixty years until Jan’s passing on October 29, 2015. Surviving are the couple’s five children: Catherine Blum of Philadelphia, PA, Christine (Paul) Vaughan of Bowie, MD, Joseph (Esther) Blum of Bonne Terre, MO, Robert (Ingrid) Blum of Decatur, IL and Thomas (Stephanie) Blum of Phoenix, AZ. Also, surviving are eleven grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.
In 1956 Joe was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He would serve his country proudly for thirty years, attaining the rank of Colonel before retiring in 1986. He served as a Combat Air Crew member in Vietnam and as an instructor of Electrical Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Later he would be assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy as a professor on the Systems Engineering faculty, where he was eventually promoted to Department Chairman.
After his Air Force years Joe joined the faculty at Virginia Tech as a professor and Assistant Department Head in the Electrical Engineering Department. He retired from his final post in 1996 after ten years of service.
Joe filled his retirement years enjoying several of his life-long hobbies. He was an excellent woodworker, building heirloom-quality furniture for his family. He also enjoyed tinkering with anything mechanical, especially his classic Volkswagen Beetle. Joe was also a physical fitness enthusiast, especially jogging and eventually walking as the years went on.
For nearly twenty years Joe and Jan lived at Warm Hearth Village together and these he regarded as the happiest years of his life. Special thanks go out to all of the staff at Warm Hearth for keeping Joe comfortable during his final days.
The family will receive friends for a memorial service at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive, Blacksburg on Friday, February 27, 2026, from 2:00 to 4:00pm. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that any condolences be offered in the form of donations in Joe’s name to any of the several veteran organizations around the country. Following the reception Joe’s ashes will be interred beside Jan’s in a private ceremony at Westview Cemetery, Blacksburg.
