1917 - 2012 Samuel Wheadon Bloch passed away December 19, 2012, just shy of his 95th birthday, in Kansas City. He was born December 24, 1917, to Raphael and Alix Kilpatrick Bloch in Alexandria, LA. He graduated from Bolton High School Alexandria in 1934, and he received two degrees from Louisiana State University: B.S. Biology (1938) and M.S. Physiology (1940). He was an instructor at Southeastern Louisiana College until he was drafted into the armed forces as a Private in 1942. He was separated from the Army Air Corps Reserve in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Wisconsin in 1953. He married Dorothy Runkel from Wauwatosa, WI, in 1951. They moved to Kansas City when he became Dean of Students at the University of Kansas City (later UMKC) in 1953, and never left. In 1969, he received a Fulbright grant to teach in India. In 1970 he returned to teaching at UMKC as Professor of Education. He retired in 1988 as Professor Emeritus, having also served as Chairman of the Faculty Senate for three terms and Acting Vice-Chancellor for one year. His wife, Dorothy, died in 1997 on their forty-sixth wedding anniversary. His older son, Wheadon Caffery "Chip" Bloch, died last year. He is survived by Jeffrey William Bloch of New York City, also Jeffrey's children, Julia Alix and Jackson Wheadon; also four nieces and nephews, and Chip's wife, Sherri. Wheadon could be a man of strong opinions, but he also was a gentleman, generous and thoughtful, who delighted in a well-turned phrase. He remained active and engaged almost till the end, enjoying the symphony, theater, and the next new restaurant. For more than a decade he volunteered at the Information Desk at St. Luke's Hospital, where he said, he "liked telling people where to go." Long an experienced bridge player, he enrolled in a class last Spring, "to see if I could learn some new bidding strategies." Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, at Bishop Spencer Place, 4301 Madison Ave., KCMO; his home and community since 1999. In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to the Wheadon Bloch Scholarship Fund, UMKC, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110, or the Cavanaugh Memorial Endowment Fund, care of Bishop Spencer Place, 4301 Madison Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111. To view his online tribute, please visit www.muehlebachchapel.com. Muehlebach Funeral Home & Cremations. Family Owned since 1954. 816.444.2060 www.muehlebachchapel.com
Published in Kansas City Star on December 20, 2012
