Richard Block

Richard A. Block, age 90, a native of Douglaston, NY and a resident of Houma, LA since 1972, died on July 31, 2025. He is survived by his wife of 47 years Gwen and son Michael E. Denning, Jr. of Houma. He is an honors graduate of Washington and Lee University (BA) with a Major in American History. He held a Master's Degree from Long Island University and a secondary school principal's certificate. After serving as an officer in the 1st Missile Battalion, 55th Artillary, at Fort Totten, NY, he took up a professional teaching career as a Social Studies teacher for over 10 years in Nassau County, NY. During this time, he was active in the New York State Teachers Association. In New York, he was also active in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary as an instructor and a Flotilla Commander. He was also licensed as a Ferry Captain and owned and operated a four-boat ferry company in Bayshore, NY. Combining operational knowledge and classroom training, in 1970, he joined the new Marine Department at Young Memorial Vocational Technical School in Morgan City, LA, where he trained merchant mariners to obtain various Coast Guard credentials and later taught at the Alaska Vocational Technical Institute in Seward, AK. As a licensed Master, he owned and operated crew and utility boats in the Gulf of Mexico and owned a tugboat, Tyon No. 5, for over 20 years. As one of the founders of Marine Education Textbooks, he wrote and edited a series of textbooks including Limited Master, Mate & Operator, Able Seaman, Lifeboatman, Workboat Engineer, Tankerman, and the Towing Vessel Officers Guide as well as a number of logbooks used in the commercial marine industry. MET operated a maritime bookstore and nautical chart agency in Houma, LA since 1978 that is managed by his wife, Gwen. As an active mariner, he served as a spokesman for limited-tonnage merchant mariners first as the Newsletter Editor for the National Association of Maritime Educators (1987-1999). He became a member of American Inland Mariners Association (AIM) and a member of the International Association of Masters, Mates, and Pilots (MM&P). In 1999, he was elected as an officer of the Gulf Coast Mariners Association (GCMA), an independent membership association founded by the AFL-CIO in 1999 and four national maritime unions. After the unions withdrew as a sponsor in 2003, GCMA continued to function and later became the National Mariners Association (NMA) that remained active until June 2014. NMA actively supported a merchant-mariner safety, health, and welfare agenda at the national level including urging the inspection of the nation's 6,200 towing vessels, seeking a realistic 12-hour workday limit for all merchant mariners, demands that the Coast Guard improve the personal injury reporting standards to those comparable to landside workers adopted by OSHA, and safe, clean, and enforceable potable water standards for every commercial vessel. In 2014, The National Mariners Historic Trust place dits collection of over 200 research reports and 95 newsletters on the internet (www.nationalmariners.us) to serve as a historical record for all limited-tonnage merchant mariners and so their documents would be freely available to all merchant mariners and finally deposited with the Library of Congress. Online condolences can be given at www.samartfuneralhome.com Samart Funeral Home of Houma, 4511 West Park Ave, Gray has been entrusted with handling his arrangements.