Mary Helen Block

Mary Helen Block (née McLaren) entered eternal life on Sunday, August 9, 2020. Born into this life in Detroit, she, her sister Suzanne, father John and mother Helen Connolly McLaren moved to Lakewood, California in the early 1950s. She attended St. Cyrian Grade School, St. Anthony High School, and Immaculate Heart College. She was a novice of the Immaculate Heart Sisters before becoming a Lay Mission Helper for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, in Malawi, Central Africa. There she met her husband, Ed Block. They were married in 1972 at the Stanford University Newman Center. After a year in Germany, and two years in Corvallis, Oregon, they moved to Milwaukee, then Greendale, where she lived until her death. While a librarian for the Village of Greendale, she and her husband raised three daughters. She was well-known in her community and served on the America in Bloom committee that brought a National Award to the Village. Loved by her husband, children and grandchildren, her neighbors and co-workers, she was wise and generous, and always optimistic in outlook. She took great pride in her family, her home, her yard, and her gourmet cooking. In recent years, family trips to Disney World, Sanibel Island, Florida, and Dubuque, Iowa gave her great joy. She is survived by her husband, daughter Julie and husband Ken Pronovici, daughter Suzie and husband Rick Ryer, and daughter Mary and husband Sean Hannan, as well as three grandchildren, Kaitlyn Hannan, Abby Ryer, and William Ryer. A Mass celebrating Mary Helen’s life will take place on Friday, August 14, 2020 at 11 a.m. at St. ALPHONSUS PARISH, 6060 W. Loomis Road, Greendale. Family greetings will begin at 10:15. Memorials may be made to the American Red Cross Blood program or Heartofthenation.org, a locally produced Catholic Mass broadcast weekly.