51 Birch Street - The Characters

The Characters

• Mike Block, a mechanical engineer by trade, was born in Brooklyn, New York. He returned home from service in World War II and married Mina Vogel in 1947. In 1951, they bought a house and moved to Port Washington, New York, where they raised their three children. Mike worked as Chief Engineer, VP and Plant Manager for a number of different manufacturing companies in New York City and on Long Island. He eventually became a partner in a machine shop, then sold the business and retired in 1990. After Mina’s death in 2002, Mike re-connected with a former secretary, Carol "Kitty" Duffy, and they married in 2003. They sold the home in Port Washington and moved to Kitty’s house in Key Largo, Florida. In 2005, they bought a house in Sun City Center, Florida, where they currently (2007) reside.

• Mina Block was born in 1923, and grew up in the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Brooklyn College in 1945, and married Mike Block in 1947, a year after he returned from service in the army. Their first daughter, Ellen, was born in 1949, and Karen was born a year later. In 1951, the family moved to Port Washington, New York, where their third child, Doug, was born in 1953. From 1962 to 1964, Mina worked full time as a marketing researcher, and took occasional part-time jobs over the years as the kids grew older. Mina's real passion was writing. She wrote prose and poetry, and periodically contributed freelance articles to local newspapers. In addition, she was a longtime peace activist, and was an active board member of the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives for many years.

• Carol "Kitty" Block was born Carol Duffy in Brooklyn, New York in 1935, and moved to Glen Cove, Long Island in 1949. In 1956, she began work as a secretary for a manufacturing plant. She married in 1958, and had 2 children. When she returned from her second maternity leave, her new boss was Mike Block. Kitty eventually divorced her husband, remarried in 1968, had a third child, and moved to Key Largo, Florida. Her husband had a fatal heart attack in 1988. She owned and directed the Key Largo Bridge Club for 28 years. She has also worked as a bookkeeper, home nurse and driver.