KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Annette Bloch, who co-founded the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Foundation, which later became the Richard & Annette Bloch Family Foundation, died on Saturday, family confirmed to KSHB 41 News.
Bloch, 94, died peacefully in Kansas City, Missouri, while surrounded by family according to an obituary and her daughter, Linda Lyon.
Lyon added her mother devoted her life to family, making a difference and spreading positivity.
One way Bloch made a difference for others was through the RA Bloch Cancer Foundation she and her husband Richard founded in 1980 after he was cured of terminal cancer. The foundation created a hotline where people recently diagnosed with cancer could speak with survivors, published books about fighting cancer, and created ways for doctors to share information about treating cancer.
Bloch was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and moved to Kansas City where she married her Bloch. Lyon said Kansas City became home for Bloch. She made a mark on her new hometown in 1990 when the foundation helped create Bloch Cancer Survivors Park on the Plaza.
“They put parks around the country, Cancer Survivor Parks, so people would see that sign that when they were diagnosed, they would know there was a chance of survival,” Lyon said.
Over the years, Bloch supported the University of Kansas Health System and received many honors for her charitable projects in which she had a hand until her death. Lyon said Bloch died of lung cancer which spread to other parts of her body.
“We thought she could fight anything because, even though she was 94, she worked out five days a week and was out almost every night,” Lyon pointed out. “She loved life and lived it to its fullest. I think her body finally caught up to her and started shutting down.”
Lyon said it was important for family to be by Bloch’s side before her passing. Bloch took her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, about 37 people total, on two vacations a year.
Bloch is survived by her three daughters Barbara Huson, Nancy Linsley and Linda Lyon.
