Top Banner for David Arthur Block Obituary
David Arthur Block Obituary

Brought to you by Adams Funeral Home & Cremation Service

David Arthur Block

Ames, IA

January 9, 1943 - September 4, 2021

David Arthur Block Obituary

David Arthur Block, age 78, of Ames, Iowa, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly following a heart attack on Saturday, September 4, 2021. He was born January 9, 1943, in Storm Lake, Iowa, to Arthur and Evelyn (Schulz) Block. He went through school in Storm Lake, and burned off energy playing baseball, tennis, and football, and pole vaulting before the fiberglass pole was invented. He spent the years 1961 to 1967 at Iowa State University in the Architecture program where, as he liked to say, he squeezed a five-year program into six years. During the first four of those years, he participated in gymnastics under his beloved coach Ed Gagnier, with whom he still shared Tuesday lunches at Culver’s, along with fellow gymnast Stew Buck. A short stint with the architecture firm Crites and McConnell was rudely interrupted when he was drafted during the Vietnam War. He took a long weekend off to marry Elizabeth Edson, and then the two went off to spend his service years in Heidelberg, Germany, which they used as a base to travel around Europe. Following the Army, the couple moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where Dave worked in an architecture firm, and where their son, Nathan David Block, was born in 1971. Next came a move to Ames and Iowa State, where Dave earned two Master’s degrees—architecture and urban planning. One of his final projects, a space station, won a national award. Another award-worthy baby came along, Erin Elisa Block, in 1974. Concurrent with his teaching career, Dave ran a successful private practice, designing over 30 homes, a school, and a library, specializing in passive solar design. A private residence in Parkersburg, Iowa, won an Iowa design award. Since retirement, Dave has been blazing his own trail, going to ISU basketball games, trying his hand at beekeeping, working on home improvement projects, sharing meals with friends, model railroading, serving on the trustees at church, and literally traveling the world. During all these years, Dave’s happiest times were spent teaching his children and grandchildren to flout many rules and conventions, and following their sports and activities and interests every chance he got. He wanted life to be a grand adventure, and he did his best to make it so! Dave was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his son, Nathan Block; his daughter, Erin Block; his grandchildren, Connor, Harper, Samuel, and Emerson Block (Nathan’s children); his sister, Kay Sloan, and a horde of friends and former adoring students. Services will be 11:00 A.M., Monday, September 13, 2021, at Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Ames, Iowa. Visitation will be from 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. before the services at the church. The service will be livestreamed and may be viewed on Dave’s Tribute Wall on the Adams Funeral Home website. A social time with light refreshments will be held following the service. Face masks will be required at all times inside the church. Memorial donations may be made to the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Funeral arrangements are provided by Adams Funeral Home. Online condolences can be left through www.adamssoderstrum.com.

To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of David Arthur Block hosted by Adams Funeral Home & Cremation Service.

Events

Event information can be found on the Official Obituary of David Arthur Block.