John O. Blok

John Orray Blok of Saugatuck, passed away peacefully on 7-8-21. He suffered some minor health issues over the past few years but his death was quite unexpected. His family is so thankful that he went so quickly and quietly.

John was born on September 7, 1942. He is preceeded in death by his parents Orray J. Blok and Corrine K. Blok. He is survived by his wife Alys May (Ekdahl) Blok of 61 years. His daughters Vicki Kelly, Cathy Fucile (Joe), Terri Schippa (Tony) and sons, Matthew Blok (Andrea) and Mike Blok. Grandchilden: Alex Cumiskey (Bryan), Skylar Fucile, Andrew (Barbara), Cara, Bridget Blok. Nora and Abby Blok. Kevin Schippa. Great Grandchildren: Ann and Katherine Cumiskey, Olivia and Riley Blok.

John was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He lived in Gobles, Michigan before moving to Saugatuck where he went to school, got married, and raised his family. John and Alys owned many businesses over the years always working for themselves. They had a motel, trucking business, garbage business, and owned two local restaurants: The Skyline and Bloko’s in Saugatuck. He was a local police officer and fire fighter. His real love was volunteering on the Saugatuck Fire Dept. He volunteered for many years forming life long friendships and meeting hundreds of others who had a passion for serving the community through fire and rescue. He became a full-time fire chief for Saugatuck Township Fire District where he served a full and passionate career for 37 years. John developed and nurtured Saugatuck’s original First Responder Program and was instrumental in building the new fire house on Blue Star Hwy where it is today. He was a forward thinker and implemented numerous procedures and processes to build one of the biggest and best fire departments in Southwest Michigan. He started the fire safety program in Saugatuck Schools and also the Fire Inspector Program for community businesses. He loved and served his community well. Most of his family members joined in as members of the department over the years. He also enjoyed boating, hunting, fishing, carpentry, mechanics and was a professional amazon shopper. His humor and stubborn personality will be tremendously missed by his family.

A memorial service will take place on July 13 at 2pm at Riverside Cemetery in Saugatuck. Friends and community members are welcome to join the family as we honor John’s life of service and celebrate his eternal rest.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Saugatuck Township Fire District (3342 Bluestar Hwy) for a Heart Compression Machine (Lucas device) in John Blok’s name.