Arnie BLOCK

BLOCK, RAMM, CLAUSEN, HICKOCK, BUMP, STEINER, GILLESPIE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 4/23/2009 at 09:53:49

Mason City Globe Gazette
May 6, 1996

RENWICK, IA-- Arnie Block, 79, of Renwick, died Saturday (May 4, 1996) at Humboldt County Hospital. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Renwick, with the Rev. John Massey officiating. Burial will be in Vernon Township Cemetery. Military graveside rites will be conducted by members of Harvey-McPeak Post 289. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Garry-Roberts-Murphy-Schaaf Funeral Home, Renwick.

Arnie Block was born April 4, 1917, in Renwick, a son of Claus and Anna Marie (Ramm) Block. He was married to Ivabelle A. Clausen on Oct. 9, 1945, in New York, N.Y. Arnie was schooled in Renwick and graduated from Renwick High School in 1934. He attended the University of Iowa and joined the U.S. Navy in 1936. He served his country during Pearl Harbor on the U.S.S. California. He retired in 1958 as a lieutenant commander. Following his retirement, the couple moved to Renwick where Arnie worked as a hail adjuster for Dawson Insurance Co., and was a substitute teacher and a bus driver for 17 years. He was active in his community, serving as mayor and councilman for 18 years. He organized the Memorial Day ceremonies for the past 40 years and belonged to Harvey-McPeak Legion Post No. 289 of Renwick. He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church where he served as chairman of the congregation, was on the council and was in the choir.

Survivors include his wife, Ivabelle, of Renwick; a son, Mark Block and his wife, Donna, of Ankeny; a daughter, Lynn Hickock and her husband, Harlan, of St. Petersburg, Fla.; three grandchildren; three sisters, Myrtle Bump of Moline, Ill., Connie Gillespie of Wyandotte, Mich., and Eva Steiner and her husband, Howard, of Hannaford, N.D.; and four brothers, Clem Block and his wife, Ruth, of Grand Rapids, Mich., Merrill Block and his wife, Ruth, of Rockford, Mich., Carroll Block and his wife, Jan, of Thompson, and Ken Block and his wife, Marybelle, of Northwood. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Florence.