Daniel Norberto Blejer

Daniel Blejer, scientist, 52

At Daniel Blejer's funeral, his wife, Hatte, recalled a man of "gentleness and kindness," with a "zest for every aspect of daily life."

She told of his passion for science, of the mouse-carrying rockets that he built as a child and launched at school fieldtrips "to the delight of his classmates and consternation of his teachers." And she told of his "rare ability to focus on the other person ... without a selfish thought."

Blejer, an Alexandria resident, died Jan. 2, at the Community Hospice of Washington of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a rare neurologic disorder. He was 52.

Blejer was born into a close Jewish community in Cordoba, Argentina. His father, Herman, was from the agricultural settlement founded by Baron Maurice de Hirsch -- Moises Villa. His mother, Ester, was a well-known community leader and avid Zionist. He attended a synagogue built by his father and maternal grandfather.

A day school student through high school, Blejer sailed on the last Youth Aliyah ship bound from Buenos Aires to Israel where he studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, receiving a B.S. in physics and math in 1973.

That year he married Hatte (Rubenstein) Blejer, whom he had met at a peace demonstration in Jerusalem in 1972, and moved to Texas where he earned a master's degree and in plasma physics from The University of Texas at Austin. He became a tokamak researcher, attempting to confine plasma with magnetic fields -- a concept likened to holding gelatin (the plasma) with rubber bands (the magnetic field).

In 1986, the family moved to Alexandria, where Blejer was able to fulfill his dream of sending rockets to outer space. Working for Computer Science Corporation and more recently for QSS, Inc., he was a systems analyst for NASA on satellite simulation software and participated in the preparation leading up to and the launch of various scientific and weather satellites, including the Gamma Ray Observatory.

Blejer was a member of Congregation Agudas Achim in Alexandria, and his children were early students at Gesher Jewish Day School which they attended from 1986 to 1996.

Robert Whitehill of Potomac knew of Blejer's love of people and learning. Commenting on their friendship that dated back to Blejer's time in Austin he said, "though he was four years younger than I, it was he [Blejer] who was the teacher, the 'older brother,' both on how things work in this world and how things should work in this world."

Blejer's college roomate, Dov Faust, wrote from Jerusalem that "he had the kind of naivete that led him to feel angry at wrongdoers, because he felt one can manage the world without doing wrong. ... This gave him the charm of those who have a fresh look at the world, like that of a young child."

In addition to his wife, Blejer is survived by his children, Ariella and Michael, and his brother, Mario Blejer of London.

Contributions in Blejer's memory may be made to the Gesher Jewish Day School (for science education), 8900 Little River Tnpk., Fairfax, VA 22031 or the Community Hospice of Washington, Development Department, 3720 Upton St., N.W., Washington, DC 20016.

This story was published in the Washington Jewish Week on 01/29/2004.

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 30 2017, 22:27:07 UTC
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 30 2017, 22:55:28 UTC