Block, Lavina "Vi" (Mrs. Robert) 1936-2023

BLOCK, JANSEN, SNUTTJER

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/9/2024 at 13:14:41

Mrs. Lavina “Vi” Block, age 87, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, December 15, 2023, at the Prairie Ridge Care Center in Orange City.

A visitation with the family present will be held on Monday, December 18, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, at the Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City. A prayer service will take place on Tuesday, December 19, at 10:00am, at the funeral home, followed by interment at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. There will be a memorial service on Tuesday, at 11:00am, at the First Reformed Church in Orange City with the Rev. Mark Haverdink officiating.

Lavina Faith was born on June 26, 1936, in Lennox, South Dakota, the daughter of the Rev. Frank and Grace (Jansen) Snuttjer. She lived in Lennox until the family moved to Titonka. They subsequently moved to Little Rock, where “Vi” graduated from the Little Rock High School. She continued her education at Northwestern College in Orange City as well as Central College in Pella, where she graduated.

On June 18, 1958, she married Robert Block at the Salem Reformed Church in Little Rock. They attended the University of Michigan prior to beginning their service with the United Mission in Iraq in 1959. They were stationed primarily in Basrah, with one year in Baghdad. Vi completed a two-year Arabic language course and then taught English in the School of High Hope. In addition, she taught expatriate children, including her own, and hosted regular occasions to make friends and share their faith. The Iraqi government expelled all Americans in 1968, because of America’s support to Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Bob and Vi serviced reformed churches in Long Island, New York; Newton, Iowa; and finally in Clifton, New Jersey. Vi was an organist, choir director, and teacher in Sunday School and women’s Bible studies. While in New Jersey, she was also an Arabic bilingual teacher at Paterson Public School #9 for fourteen years. After taking an early retirement, Vi went to Oman with her husband to work for two years at the Al Amana Centre. This was a center promoting mutual understanding between Muslims and Christians, exploring their faiths together. The center also provided courses on Christian faith and the English language. Vi again found herself hosting occasions for developing friendships with the people they met in Oman.

Bob and Vi have three children. Joel was born in Kuwait, where they stayed prior to entering Iraq. James was born three years later in Rock Rapids, Iowa, while on furlough in the States. Susan, the youngest, was born in their house in Basrah, Iraq, with an Arab midwife in attendance.

The Blocks retired to Orange City in 2002. Vi’s mother lived in Orange City, and Bob’s mother and family lived nearby. At First Reformed Church in Orange City, Vi enjoyed the Bible study discussion groups, prayer warriors, and worship services. She was also a member of the church’s choir for a number of years.

Bob passed away on October 23, 2009, in Orange City, after more than 51 years of marriage. Vi later moved to the Landsmeer Ridge Retirement Community in Orange City and lived there for eight years. In August of 2023, she became a resident of the Prairie Ridge Care Center.

Survivors include her two sons and their wives, Joel and Badria Block, of Rio Rico, Arizona, and their daughters, Maiya, and her husband, Pavel Ngaybe, and Hannan, and her husband, Per Mertens; James and Sandi Block, of Clear Lake, South Dakota, and their sons, Zachary Block, and his wife, Tia, and Joshua Block; a daughter and her husband, Susan and Patrick Giannantonio, of Orange City, and their children, Jessica and Jake Giannantonio; a great-grandson, Asobotazeh Robert Ngaybe; a sister, Lois Lombard, of Ankeny; a brother and his wife, David and Kathi Snuttjer, of South Padre Island, Texas; a sister-in-law, Mary Block, of Orange City; and a brother-in-law, Peter Schakel, of Holland, Michigan; along with several nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by two sisters, Karen Schakel, and Mary, and her husband, Fred Schaa; a brother-in-law, Bruce Lombard; her husband’s parents, George and Mary Block; and his siblings, Ethyl, and her husband, Jack Peters; Ruth Ackerman; Clarice, and her husband, Marvin Rosenboom; George “Jud” Henry; and Patricia, and her husband, Robert Reynen.

Memorials will be given to the Orange City Area Home Health and Hospice.

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.