One of the founding voices of the tax preparation industry was lost
today with the passing of Henry Wollman Bloch, 96. Bloch was a
visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist who, along with his
brother Richard, co-founded H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) in 1955.
With strong personal values and a commitment to clients, Bloch
helped guide the growth of the small family business from a single
storefront on Main Street in Kansas City, Mo., to become a global
consumer tax services provider.
Born July 30, 1922, Bloch died peacefully today surrounded by
his family.
Bloch retired as the company’s chief executive officer in 1992
and as chairman of the board of directors in 2000. In 1989, he
became chairman of the board of directors and chief executive
officer. He served as president of H&R Block from 1962 until
1988, adding the title of chief executive officer in
1974.
Although retired, Bloch worked daily on his many philanthropic
endeavors in Kansas City, including the Marion and Henry Bloch
Family Foundation, the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the
University of Missouri – Kansas City, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of
Art, Saint Luke’s Hospital and the H & R Block Foundation.
“Through his honesty and integrity, Henry embodied the best of
American business, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. In so many
ways, he was ahead of his time and a model for today’s
entrepreneur,” said Jeff Jones, president and chief executive
officer of H&R Block Inc. “His vision lives on through our
H&R Block associates and the many philanthropic organizations
that he supported.”
A life of achievement
Bloch, the second son of a prominent Kansas City lawyer,
attended Southwest High School in Kansas City and began his college
career at the University of Kansas City, later transferring to the
University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1944 with a
Bachelor’s of Science degree in mathematics.
He joined the Army Air Corps shortly after the United States
entered World War II. Serving in the Eighth Air Force as a
navigator on B-17 bombers, he flew 32 combat missions over Germany,
three of them over Berlin, and was awarded the Air Medal and three
Oak Leaf Clusters.
After the war in 1945, Bloch and his brother, Leon, founded
United Business Company, which provided bookkeeping and other
services to small businesses in Kansas City. Shortly thereafter,
Leon left the business to pursue a law degree, and younger brother
Richard joined United Business Company in 1946.
Tax preparation was a complementary service offered by the two
brothers to their small business clients. But in 1955, the brothers
decided to eliminate the tax service and focus on their bookkeeping
business. One client – an advertising representative with The
Kansas City Star – encouraged them to continue their tax
preparation service and persuaded them to place two advertisements
in the paper. The ads offered federal and state income tax
preparation for $5.
The response to the advertisements was immediate and
overwhelming, because the Internal Revenue Service had just started
phasing out its practice of preparing tax returns free-of-charge to
taxpayers in Kansas City, with plans to eliminate the free service
across the country. Later that year, Henry and Richard Bloch
founded H&R Block, changing the spelling of their last name to
make it easier to pronounce and spell.
In 1956, the IRS discontinued free tax preparation in New York
City, and the brothers pursued this opportunity by opening six
offices there, along with two additional offices in Kansas City.
The company generated more than $120,000 in revenue, a six-fold
increase over the previous year.
The company rapidly expanded, aided by the concept of
franchising H&R Block tax offices. In 1962, H&R Block
became a public company, with an initial public offering of 75,000
shares at $4 each. Today, there are more than 12,000 H&R Block
offices.
A life of giving
In addition to building a successful business, Bloch was
committed to building stronger communities through education,
healthcare and the arts. This was especially evident in his
hometown of Kansas City.
Henry once said, “Over the years, I have enjoyed giving back.
And in the process I have learned that true success is not measured
in what you get, but in what you give back.”
In 2011, Henry and his wife, Marion, established the Marion and
Henry Bloch Family Foundation to be able to continue to give back
to Kansas City for generations to come. The Foundation supports
efforts in the areas of post-secondary business and
entrepreneurship education; healthcare; social services; education
for low-income, underserved youth; visual and performing arts; and
Jewish organizations in Kansas City.
In addition to his own foundation, Bloch and his wife were
life-long supporters of three Kansas City institutions: The
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Saint Luke’s Hospital and the
University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Bloch had a passion for the arts and served as Chairman of the
Board of Trustees for The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, one of the
nation’s premiere art museums. In June 2007, the museum opened the
internationally acclaimed Bloch Building expansion, named in honor
of Henry and Marion Bloch. And in 2010, Marion and Henry Bloch
announced that they would donate their expansive personal
collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings to the
museum, which includes works from artists such as Claude Monet,
Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar
Degas. The Bloch Galleries, which opened in March 2017, in the
museum’s original 1933 Beaux-Arts building, features nearly 30
masterpieces acquired by the Bloch family over the course of two
decades.
Over the years, Bloch donated countless hours in the classroom,
mentored Bloch Scholars students and provided funding for
scholarships and professorships. In 2012, Bloch provided a gift to
the University of Missouri-Kansas City that supported the
construction of a state-of-the-art building to house the Henry W.
Bloch School of Management's graduate and executive
programs.
During his lifetime, Bloch served on more than 50 corporate and
nonprofit boards and received more than 50 awards and citations
recognizing his entrepreneurial and philanthropic service to the
academic, cultural and business communities. He received honorary
doctorate degrees from eight colleges and universities.
Bloch is preceded in death by his wife, Marion; brothers Richard
and Leon; and his parents. Mr. Bloch is survived by his four
children: Robert L. Bloch, Thomas M. Bloch, Mrs. Mary Jo Brown, and
Mrs. Elizabeth Uhlmann, all of Kansas City; 12 grandchildren, and
19 great-grandchildren.
Bloch’s brother and business partner, Richard, died on July 21,
2004. His brother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 1978,
and told he had three months to live. On his personal quest to
“beat the odds,” he was cured after two years of aggressive
therapy. Richard Bloch made a promise that if he survived, he
would devote his life to helping others fight cancer. He left the
business in 1980 and devoted the rest of his life to philanthropic
activities to help cancer patients.
To learn more about the life of Henry Bloch, please visit
www.rememberinghenrybloch.com.
About H&R Block H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:
HRB) is a global consumer tax services provider. Tax return
preparation services are provided by professional tax preparers in
approximately 12,000 company-owned and franchise retail tax offices
worldwide, and through H&R Block tax software products for the
DIY consumer. H&R Block also offers adjacent Tax Plus products
and services. In fiscal 2018, H&R Block had annual revenues of
over $3.1 billion with over 23 million tax returns prepared
worldwide. For more information, visit the H&R Block
Newsroom.
Download Henry W. Bloch video tribute (broll)
Photos accompanying this announcement are available:
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For Further Information
Media Relations: Susan Waldron ǀ (816) 854-5522 ǀ susan.waldron@hrblock.com
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