Joseph "Seph" Bloedoorn, 76, of St. Paul, passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 2, 2025, surrounded by family, after suffering a heart attack while bicycling with his partner of 19 years, Lesley Guyton.

Seph was a devoted partner, father, grandfather, and friend. A true Renaissance man, he was a scientist, engineer, historian, photographer, pilot, sailor, activist and bike captain. He grew up in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood, excelled academically, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College.

His career ranged from police officer to founder of a successful media company, teacher, writer, and mentor. He was known for his generosity, civic engagement, and passion for his tandem bicycle, co-founding the Saturday morning Spokespeople bike club.

Seph is survived by his partner Lesley; children Amanda, Darcy, and Ted; brother Peter; sister Pam; six grandchildren; and many beloved friends and family.

Comments on the listserv from classmates:

Jon Taylor: I do remember Seph, or Joe as I knew him. I didn't know him well, but remember him as an exceptionally warm, bright, and funny guy. I always enjoyed it when he came to our room to hang out with you. I think I laughed a lot when he was there. I have occasionally 31 thought of him over the years and wondered what had become of him.

Michael Robinson: This one hit me especially hard. Seph was a very close friend of mine during our first two year in college. I knew him as Joe back then. I remember many hours of deep--and frivolous--conversation. Some was about politics and miscellaneous whatever. And some was about the multifaceted weirdness of being two Midwestern Black guys at Harvard. Unlike me, he had a prior Harvard connection, a cousin named David Granger, who was a couple of years ahead of us.

Sometime around our sophomore year, Seph left Harvard and I almost lost touch with him. The last time I saw him in the flesh was in the spring of 1977, when he appeared unannounced at my door when I and my ex-wife (Susan McHenry ’72) were living in the South End of Boston and I was a student at The Sloan School of Management at MIT. I still vividly recall that he woke me from a deep sleep and told me with boundless excitement about a new movie called “Star Wars.” Seph told me a few things about his life then disappeared for about 40 years.

We somehow reconnected later and learned that he was known as “Seph.” I don’t recall exactly why he left Harvard, but he did it in a characteristically dramatic fashion. According to Seph, once he decided to leave college, he cashed his National Merit Scholarship check, bought a motorcycle, and headed west, with his girlfriend sharing the ride.

Seph eventually went back home to Minneapolis/St. Paul and joined the police department. After being a patrolman for a few years, he returned to Harvard and took his degree in 1974. Then he returned to Minneapolis/St. Paul for good. I knew little of Seph’s post-Harvard life, except that he was a teacher and always had something to do with the arts.