For generations of Baltimore Jewry, the name Bluefeld was closely associated with fine kosher catering and dining. Started by the family’s Russian-born matriarch Bessie Bluefeld in 1937, the catering business was taken over four years later after her sudden death by her sons, Louis, Milton and Philip, and her daughter-in-law, Edith.
During their four decades of running the business, Bluefeld Catering was well-known in Charm City and beyond. Bluefeld catered life-cycle, political, social and charitable gatherings at its Blue Crest and Blue Crest North halls in Northwest Baltimore and at other venues, as well as serving meals from the Baltimore-Washington corridor to New York City and Florida.
“For almost half a century, Bluefeld dominated the kosher catering business in Baltimore as no other kosher catering business has done before or since,” wrote Gilbert Sandler in his 2000 book “Jewish Baltimore: A Family Album” (Johns Hopkins University Press).
Bluefeld was the first catering outfit to kasher the White House kitchen and served Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the nation’s capital at the time of the announcement of the Camp David Peace Accords in 1978.
Edith Seidel Bluefeld passed away Wednesday, Jan. 31, in Boca Raton, Florida. She was 102.
She is survived by her husband of nearly 83 years, Louis; her children, Barry Bluefeld, and Bette Lynn Steiner; and her grandchildren, Amy (Brad) McLean, and Linda (Mike) Steiner. She was predeceased by her sister and brother-in-law, Beatrice and Nathan Scherr; her parents, Katie and Harry Seidel; and her son-in-law, William Steiner.
Services will be held at Sol Levinson’s Chapel, 8900 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville, on Friday, Feb. 2, at 1 p.m. Interment will be at Beth El Memorial Park, 9633 Liberty Road in Randallstown.
Contributions in Edith Bluefeld’s memory may be sent to the Rabbi Steven Schwartz Discretionary Fund at Beth El Congregation, 8101 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21208.
This article about the Bluefelds appeared in Jmore in 2021.
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