Kira Jane Block

Kira Jane Block (nee Leschoff) was born on June 26, 1939, in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Her father, Afanasy Leschoff, a World War 1 and Russian civil war veteran, was from Kiev, Ukraine and her mother, Amelia Krebs, was from Pabianice, Poland. Her early life was dominated by war. In early 1945, they fled Poland ahead of the advancing Soviet army, heading to already-liberated southern Germany where they lived until they emigrated to the United States in 1951.

After a brief stay in Missouri, they moved to Chicago where her father was ordained a Russian Orthodox priest and assigned to a small parish in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1954. Kira graduated from Western Michigan in 1961, majoring in languages and teaching. She married Gene Logan in 1959 and moved to Grand Rapids. They had two kids together but that marriage ended in 1968. In 1970, on her birthday, she married August Block who had four kids from a previous marriage. They had one more child in 1971 and raised this large and blended family together.

Kira and Aug ‘retired’ to Caledonia and Middleville. Augie died in 2010 and Kira stayed out there until 2022 when she relocated back to Grand Rapids to be closer to two of her daughters who were increasingly helping as Kira’s health started to decline.

Kira was fluent in four languages– English, German, French and Russian. She taught German and French at Creston High School in the early 1960s and at Grandville Middle School in the late 1960’s. She utilized her language skills as an executive secretary at Steelcase for many years after her kids grew up. She served as a docent at the Meyer-May House, as a Eucharistic Minister for the Holy Family Church in Caledonia and volunteered at the Home of Hope Hospice Care. Kira was an only child and Augie had one brother but the size, energy, and audible volume of the family they created together is their proudest achievement and lasting legacy to each other and to their family. Together they were parents to 7, grandparents to 21 and great-grandparents to 21, soon to be 22! We cherish the times spent at “Mimi and Pa’s” house with all the kids and grandkids running around. It was chaos and Kira absolutely loved it. She never turned anyone away and no one ever went home hungry.

Kira felt personally responsible for starting World War II because, as a child, her mother would always say that “Kira was born and Hitler invaded Poland” (a great example that correlation is not causation). While she had a very dangerous and challenging upbringing during the war, as a post-war refugee in Germany and then an immigrant in the US, those early struggles forged Kira’s positive outlook on life. She was the kindest, most loving person, with legions of friends and admirers at every stage of her life. To know her, truly, was to love her.

She is pre-deceased by her husband, Augie; her parents; and her grandson, Trevor. She is survived by all of her children: Deb (Jeff) Tollison of Canton Township, Michael Block of Hastings, Tim (Nancy) Logan of Tallahassee, David Block of Rockford, Lisa (Logan) Erhan of Grand Rapids, Karen (Tom) Flanagan, and, last, but certainly not least, Kathleen (Jeremy) Lehman, also of Grand Rapids. Her 21 grandchildren are mostly in Michigan, but also in Illinois, Florida, and Rhode Island. One grandson is in the Air Force and one is in the Navy.

A Memorial Mass will be held at 11 am on Saturday, March 9, at Holy Family Church, 9669 Kraft Ave. SE, Caledonia, with Rev. Michael R. Cilibraise officiating. A rosary service will be held on Friday, March 8 at 6:45 p.m. at MKD Funeral Home (Caledonia) 616 E. Main Street SE. Those who wish may make memorial contributions to the Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired.