Obit: Block, Arnold M. (1921 - 2005)

Transcribed by: Crystal Wendt

Surnames: Block, Kittle, Paradise, Grieger, Whitcomb, Darke, Hering, Kuralle, Gunn

---Source: Merrill Foto News (Merrill, Lincoln, Co., Wis.) Wednesday, 11 June 2005; page 12

---Block, Arnold M. (5 Apr. 1921 - 7 Jun 2005)

Arnold M. Block, 84, of Waunakee, died on Tuesday, June 7, 2005.

Arnold was born in Wausau on April 5, 1921, at Abraham and Esther Kittle Block, and was raised in Merrill. He married Arlene Paradise on February 4, 1943. She preceded him in death on March 23, 1996. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1993.

Arnold attended Carroll College from 1939 to 1942 and left to enlist in the Army. During WW II he served one year in Bushy Park, London, England, transferred to the Army Air Corps and served in France, Belgium and Trinidad, returning home in 1945. He played football for Merrill High School and Carroll College and was the star quarterback of the semi-pro Merrill Foxes football team from 1948 to 1950. He often reminisced about when he tackled Crazy Legs Hirsch who was on the Wausau team. Arnold was a member of the first Wisconsin State Patrol Academy class of 1954 and served as a state trooper until 1958 when he transferred to DOT and then DHSS, working primarily in emergency communications until his retirement in 1983. He and his wife followed their dream and built a county home outside of Waunakee that they called "Stillmeadow" where they raised horses, pet geese and Persian cats and lovingly tended extensive herb, flower and vegetables gardens. He loved gardening at "Stillmeadow"  second only to fishing. During his lifetime he fished in many wild places up North and in Canada for large game fist. He continued his fishing adventures until moving into an assisted living facility.

Surviving are his children Sandra Conner Grieger-Block and Esther (Joey) Whitcomb, both of Waunakee; and Robin (Peter) Darke, Tasmania, Australia; grandchildren Robert H. Conner, Fort Atkinson; Angelique (Conner) Hering, Barneveld; Michael S. (Maryrose) Whitcomb, Fort Bragg, N. C.; and Hayley and Nicholas Darke, Tasmania, Australia; and great-grandchildren Reid and Nicole Hering, Madison. Also surviving is high school sweetheart, Agnes Kuralle, St. Paul, Minn., whom he found again six years ago.

Funeral services were Saturday, June 11, at St. John's Catholic Church, Waunakee. Msgr. James Gunn officiated. The Winn Funeral Home, 5785 Hwy Q, Waunakee, served the family. Memorials in his name may be made to the Alzheimer's Association.

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