Richard Bloch’s Cancer Survivors Parks

Published February 4, 2024 | Updated July 10, 2026

February 4, 2024

With so many of us being impacted by cancer, I wanted to take a moment to explore Omaha’s Cancer Survivor Park on World Cancer Day. The park was funded by Richard Bloch, who was born in Kansas City in 1926. After graduating from Wharton at the age of 19, Richard returned home and joined a bookkeeping business with his brothers. By 1955 they branched out into tax preparation, which marked the beginning of H&R Block.

By the late 1970s, the business was handling 10% of the nation’s tax returns in an efficient and inexpensive manner. By 1978, however, Richard was diagnosed with lung cancer. One physician told the heavy smoker to get his estate in order because he only had three months to live. He went to another who said he was very sick and treatment would only make it worse. Refusing to accept the prognosis, he underwent two years of aggressive therapy, causing his cancer to go into remission. Two years later, Richard was diagnosed with colon cancer, which he also beat.

Photo of Richard Bloch courtesy of the Richard & Annette Bloch Family Foundation.

After the life-changing experience, Richard found a new purpose and sold his share in H&R Block. He endowed the R.A. Bloch Cancer Management Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in addition to developing the National Cancer Institute’s computer system that informed patients of the latest in cancer treatment. He also served on President Reagan’s National Cancer Advisory Board.

The sign for Cancer Survivors Park at 105th and Pacific St in Omaha.

Richard went a step further by endowing parks in 24 cities across the United States and Canada dedicated to cancer survivors. Richard’s wife, Annette, said that nationwide, there are many parks that are memorials to the dead. Starting in Kansas City in 1990, they created Cancer Survivors Parks to show that there is life with cancer. The Blochs were so impressed with Mayor P.J. Morgan’s presentation that they selected Omaha, the smallest city to receive an endowment that was originally only targeted for large cities.

Five statues representing people at the beginning of their cancer journey and are entering the maze at Cancer Survivors Park.

The foundation selected a site that sat on two acres of city-owned land that had high visibility on 105th and Pacific Street. Omaha’s park opened in 1992 and represented the psychological journey of both cancer patients and their supporters. The maze-like park has eight bronze statues reflecting people going through a maze. The first five statues display a range of emotions including fear, hope, and determination. The last three make it to the other side with expressions of happiness while laughing, representing successful treatment.

Three statues representing people that are happy and laughing after coming out the other side of the maze at Cancer Survivors Park.

The park also contains 14 tubes that are 24 feet high and that cast light into the sky. There are also 14 plaques that display both messages of hope and suggestions for those coping with cancer. On the far end is a computer which originally allowed people to input a specific type of cancer to see the names of local individuals who have survived that type of cancer for at least five years. I’m not sure whether the computer still works today.

Despite the bleak prognosis in 1978, Richard lived until he was 78 years old before passing away in 2004. The 24 parks he founded to inspire those with cancer live on.

The other parks are located in Bakersfield, CA; Baltimore, MD; Boise, ID; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Columbia, SC; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Memphis, TN; Minneapolis, MN; Mississauga, Ontario, Canada; New Orleans, LA; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Phoenix, AZ; Rancho Mirage, CA; Sacramento, CA; San Diego, CA; Santa Rosa, CA; Tucson, AZ; and Tampa, FL.

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