Kriti Mehrotra
CBS’ ’48 Hours: In the Name of Hate’ profiles the January 2018 murder of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, a University of Pennsylvania sophomore. He was found dead in a park a week after being reported missing from his hometown in California. As he was both gay and Jewish, it has since been revealed that his perpetrator, Samuel “Sam” Woodward, killed him in an anger-driven hate crime. So, of course, as we see in this episode, Blaze’s parents continue to be the loudest voices talking about justice for their son, and we can’t help but wonder more about them.
Blaze Bernstein’s Parents Were Always Supportive
Blaze Nathan Bernstein was born in April 1998 in South Orange County to Californian natives Jeanne Pepper and Gideon Bernstein, as the eldest of their three children. Remembering their son as the “renaissance man,” the couple often like to boast about how intelligent, loving, and kind he was to this day. They had a feeling Blaze was gay, and it made no difference to how they saw or loved him. They actually went to him and told him, “We love you and want you to have a good life and be happy.” Gideon then added. “His sexual identity was no different than his other identities.” But little did they know this same aspect would be part of the reason their world turned upside down.
Recalling the last time she ever saw her son alive, Jeanne once stated, “He had a glow about him. He was in a good place. He was really happy.” That day was January 2, 2018, and that same night, Blaze went outside to do his own thing, never to return. Sadly, neither of his parents learned about it until the next day, when he failed to meet up with Jeanne for a dentist appointment. The Bernsteins immediately rushed home and tried to locate him, but to no avail. Then, after calling the police, with the help of their friends and family, they got access to Blaze’s social media and discovered that he’d been with Samuel Woodward the evening before.
Blaze Bernstein’s Parents Are Keeping His Legacy Alive
Once Blaze Bernstein’s death was confirmed, his parents, who had spent a week asking the public for help and trying to remain hopeful about their son’s safe return, broke down. But then, they decided to utilize their grief and work towards ensuring that they find out the truth about what happened to Blaze while also helping others in the process. Fortunatel y, the former was solved for them in August 2018, when Samuel’s murder charge got hate crime enhancements. It wasn’t relief that the Bernsteins felt, though. “Today we suffer an added layer of pain for learning [that our son] was killed for who he was as a human being,” Gideon stated. They are also glad that he has since been convicted – the jury delivered their verdict on July 3, 2024, six years after the harrowing crime.
With all that said, it seems like Gideon and Jeanne now refuse to focus on the motives behind Blaze’s murder. Instead, they simply want to celebrate him, his beliefs, and his passions. For this, they have turned the motto “Blaze It Forward” into a public group and community and even established the Blaze Bernstein Memorial Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County to provide support to children and families in need.
Moreover, the couple has also helped start a culinary school under Blaze’s name. As for their own careers, still residing in Orange County, Jeanne is a former lawyer who left her practice in 2000 to devote herself to their kids and the family, only to have since evolved into a motivational speaker. On the other hand, Gideon currently serves as the Financial Advisor and Chief Investment Officer at Leisure Capital Management, of which he is a founding partner. The secret to peace and compassion, especially in times as hard as these, they’ve revealed, is giving back to society.
Read More: How Did Blaze Bernstein Die?
