Karolyn Vreeland Blume Esq.

Karolyn Vreeland Blume, Esq., 71 of Allentown, passed away peacefully at home on July 16, 2024. Blume was a prominent member of the legal community in Allentown for over 45 years. She was a trail blazer who found great joy in opening doors for others. She was among the first women licensed to practice law in Lehigh County 1977 and was admitted to the United States Supreme Court in 1986. While in private practice, she became the first woman and youngest person to be elected President of the Bar Association of Lehigh County in 1990. In 1992, she became a Senior Law Clerk in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, before becoming counsel at the PPL Corporation in 2001. In 2004, Karolyn opened a mediation practice where she used her consensus building skills to help people resolve their disputes amicably. She continued this work for 20 years, publishing Eat the Elephant: Overcoming Overwhelm in 2015. Naturally intelligent and possessed of a remarkable work ethic, she was extraordinarily generous with her time and expertise. She was an adjunct faculty member at Muhlenberg College and Cedar Crest College and starred in Channel 39’s live call-in show Lehigh Law Line. She was affiliated with many local and national charitable organizations including Mediators Beyond Borders, the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, the Allentown Rotary Club, the Girls Club of Allentown, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Allentown Zoning Board of Appeals. Blume was the daughter of Donald W. Vreeland and Margaretta Waller Vreeland. Born and raised in New York City, Blume later moved to Summit, New Jersey with her family. There she graduated from the Kent Place School, where she played goalie on the field hockey and lacrosse teams. She enjoyed her summers in Mantoloking, New Jersey, where she was an avid sailor. She earned a B.A. in Political Science with honors from Skidmore College where she was also the Student Body President, and a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. After that she settled in Allentown to open her first law practice. Beloved mother, sister, and aunt, Blume is survived by her daughter the Honorable Susanna Vreeland Blume, her sister Ticia Vreeland, her brother Garret Vreeland, and her nieces and nephews Whitney, Doug, Lucas, Annie, and Meg Vreeland. Blume is predeceased by her parents and her brother Douglas Vreeland. A celebration of life will be held on Thursday, July 25, 2024 at 11 A.M. in the J.S. Burkholder Funeral Home, 16th and Hamilton Sts. Allentown. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Blume’s honor to the American Civil Liberties Union.