Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The: Blum's fondness for blackjack drew her west

Alice H. Blum was a gambler and spent her final years at the blackjack tables in Stateline, Nev.

Or, as Pamela Free said, her mother moved to Nevada in 1986 "to invest her retirement in the casinos."

Before leaving Milwaukee, Blum worked at Marshall Field's for at least 20 years and frequented the racetracks in Illinois. Blum, 83, died in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on July 10 after a stroke. Her ashes were buried here Thursday at Holy Cross Cemetery. Though Blum once collected $10,000 from a slot machine, blackjack was her game. "She was a `21' nut," Free said. "She used to go with 20 bucks and stay all day. I'd come by and say, `You're spending my inheritance.'" Free, who then lived in Stateline, worked as a secretary at Harrah's Casino and Blum spent most of her time there, although she also stopped by the other gambling houses in the city. She used the proceeds from her four-family apartment building here to finance her fun. "She'd go to casinos and come home late and I'd chew her out, just like a kid," Free laughed. "They all liked her at the casinos and, when she didn't go, they'd ask her where she (had been)," Free said. "She'd tell me who she met playing at the table. Most of the young guys wanted to adopt her." Blum was born Aug. 30, 1914, in Milwaukee, to Joseph and Elizabeth Tamer. She grew up near N. 22nd and W. Walnut streets and graduated from Washington High School before working at Schuster's department store. She also played on a women's basketball team in the city for four or five years. She quit Schuster's after marrying Charles Blum in 1937. Charles, who died in 1970, was a printer and a practical joker, Free said. Before going hunting in northern Wisconsin, he printed signs saying "Deer for Sale" and surreptitiously posted them on a friend's land. Law officials, thinking illegal sales were taking place, would call the landowner. Another time when the Blums were up north, he put logs under the mattress where they were staying and then complained to the owner that the bed was too hard. Free said her mother tolerated her father's humor. A family outing was going to see the horses run at Arlington racetrack or Sportsman's Park in the Chicago area. Alice Blum was a thorough gambler. "She used to have me picking up all these tickets on the floor," Free said. "She'd come home and check all the tickets and see if she had a winner." Blum also flew to Las Vegas with friends on gambling flights before she retired from selling large appliances at Marshall Field's and moved in with her daughter in Stateline. She is survived by Free, who now lives in rural Dousman.