Heather Block, community activist
Longtime Lewes resident Heather Block died of breast cancer at the age of 55 Saturday, March 3, 2018, leaving behind family and friends all over the country and the world and her beloved Iraqi tabby cat, Cleo.
When Heather was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, she refused to be defined by the disease, and continued her work overseeing aid projects in Iraq. When her career was cut short by a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer in 2011, she became an oft-quoted patient advocate. Calling herself Dona Quixote, she lobbied locally and nationally for accessible and affordable drug policies and healthcare. She testified before Congress and the Delaware General Assembly.
She participated in national panel discussions, published editorials and wrote blogs. In 2013, she drafted and doggedly pursued the passage of a law that mandated insurers provide Medicare supplemental coverage to the disabled under 65. In her final months, she lobbied the Delaware House of Representatives to pass the End of Life Options Act to authorize the option of medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults like her.
To know Heather was to know a driven, articulate, take every bull-by-the-horns leader who wanted, and expected, the best out of every person she knew. She drove her friends, her family, and those she met, cultivated, and mentored, to be better, to stand up publicly for their beliefs, as she did. There was nothing Heather despised more than complacency in the face of injustice, ignorance, or incompetence. She was never one to say "someone should do something." Instead she put her principles into action. Heather was a fighter and a compulsive advocate for the underdog. Few could withstand her weapons-grade willpower.
But Heather's greatest legacy was her uncanny ability to organize and create community. Locally, she used her organizing skills for getting out the vote, raising funds for community-based-organizations, and establishing an endowment supporting educational opportunities for community college students, specifically undocumented immigrants. She used those same skills socially for bringing friends together for beach gatherings, impromptu meals, bike rides and walks, weekly trips to the farmer's market and dancing to local, live music.
Everything Heather did, she did with intent. She savored life to the fullest. She loved adventure, travel, her summer water aerobics class, reading, writing, and entertaining on her back porch. Her energy and her smile will be missed. But Heather's example of how she lived and loved each day to the fullest will serve as a reminder for all to look around their community, find something that needs to be done that will make it a better place, and then DO it.
A Celebration of Life for Heather will be held in late spring.
