A passion for life, and others’ lives

Dynamic Winnipeg educator, activist, community-builder, mother and grandmother was a citizen of the world who left an impression on everyone she met

By: Janine LeGal

Lee Anne Block believed in doing everything she could to create a more just, compassionate and peaceful world.

In Judaism it’s called tikkun olam, a concept that refers to action through kindness and community service intended to repair and improve the world. Block lived and embraced it fully.

The eldest of three sisters grew up on Matheson Avenue in the 1950s and ‘60s, in Winnipeg’s North End Jewish community, surrounded by cousins and friends who meant the world to her.

Block died in February from pancreatic cancer at the age of 70.

Steeped in issues of social justice, peace and community-building, Block was an active member of the University of Winnipeg campus dedicated to areas of sustainable development, including the Langside Learning Garden, a partnership with the Spence Neighbourhood Association to develop sustainable urban gardening. In 2018, she was presented with the Faculty and Staff Campus Sustainability Recognition Award for her work.

The mother, grandmother, poet, painter, political activist, actor, gardener and educator was passionate about building bridges and bringing people together.

Block’s daughter Mira Oberman remembers her mother as dynamic, energetic, warm and loving.

“She was a total hippie, a classic hippie,” said Oberman, whose upbringing included attending political rallies, peace marches and current-events discussions with her mother said.

“Her personality was as big as her hair. When you’re in the room with her you know she’s there.

“She would put her hand up at the dinner table and try to silence her sisters and parents by saying ‘Stop! I’m having a thought.’ My mom was always a great thinker.”

Block met her first husband Sheldon Oberman when registering for university classes. Together they had two children, and later became a model of how to co-operatively co-parent after a divorce.

“They never said a bad word against each other to us,” said Oberman. “They were a united parenting front. Just in different houses. They put our needs first, always.”

Longtime friend Val Perry and her husband Drew shared a house with Block and her first husband in the mid-1970s.

“She refused to be drawn into the online shopping culture of the 21st century; when she bought a car of her own she made sure it was the smallest one available and with absolutely no options, including no air conditioning to cope with sweltering prairie summers; only roll-down windows and manual locks would do,” Perry said.

“The choices she made mirrored her values, which was to live lightly on the earth in community with others.

“She was gifted with children and could instantly connect with them. I learned my most important parenting lesson from Lee Anne when her children were toddlers. Watching her with them, I realized that her answer to their wishes, such as “can we go to the park?” or “can we get out the fingerpaints?” was always, if at all possible, ‘YES!’”

Block taught middle school and English as a Second Language in the Seven Oaks School Division and was active in Winnipeg’s theatre community. She co-produced a community theatre production about women’s struggles with mental health.

“Theatre was her first love, and being on stage was her happy place,” said Oberman. “She was engaging, she cared about people, about kids, having people learn and engage. This was incredibly rewarding for her.”

Block left Winnipeg in 1995 to attend the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

“She loved being a mother but always regretted not giving herself a chance to pursue an academic career. As soon as I graduated from high school she moved to Toronto, which she really wanted to do. That is when Mom really came alive. She was finally free to pursue her own interests. She got her master’s degree and reconnected with deep intellectualism.”

On a visit home in 1997, Lee Anne’s former mother-in-law, who was always looking out for her, introduced her to Richard Grunfeld.

“Something really wonderful happened. “Richard and my mom just fit really well together. They loved each other deeply. He made her so happy. She moved back to Winnipeg for Richard.”

Together for more than 20 years, the couple had booked a venue and were planning to marry this month.

Block obtained a PhD from the University of North Dakota and was later hired by the University of Winnipeg’s faculty of education, where she received tenure in 2016.

Colleague Deb Radi recalls attending a Social Justice Coalition meeting with provincial education partners where they heard National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s Charlene Bearhead share the National Healing Forest Initiative, encouraging each community in Canada to create a place for reflection about Canada’s history and the legacy of residential schools.

“This project inspired Lee Anne to action. She turned to me and said, ‘I want to create one in St. John’s Park. Want to work together?’ This was the start of our learning journey together to create Kapabamayak Achaak Healing Forest Winnipeg as a place for learning and healing, dedicated to those children lost to or affected by residential schools. This site connects learning to the land, advances understanding about the need to protect the environment, promotes cultural sustainability and helps to advance the goals of reconciliation with all our relations.”

KAHF Winnipeg was launched in 2018, the second of its kind in Canada, on Treaty One land as part of the St. John’s Park redevelopment plans.

Block’s commitment to tikkun olam created a powerful and far-reaching impact, one in which her family remains united.

A few weeks before her diagnosis, Block was teaching at the university, enjoying time with her grandchildren and frustrated by some increasingly painful stomach discomfort.

“She handled the news with grace,” said Oberman. “Just like anyone who knows her would have expected. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t angry. She was just worried about those kids.

“It’s OK, Mom. While we can never replace you, there is enough love in this family — and in this community — to care for those kids. We will always miss you. We will be OK.”

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca