I just read where Henry Bloch (the H in H&R Block) passed away a few weeks ago (Apr 23rd) -- at least he made it through the end of the tax season! Age 96.
One comment I read wondered if his influence on his industry was comparable to Steve Jobs' on his.
"After eight years of nearly profitless struggle, Henry and Richard Bloch’s company began thriving in the mid-1950s as they transformed a tiny bookkeeping operation in Kansas City into the nation’s dominant income-tax concern, preparing at its peak one in every six United States returns.
In the process, they not only essentially created an industry but also were among the nation’s franchising pioneers, with thousands of H & R Block offices springing up across the United States and abroad.
[...]
The firm was also aided by the I.R.S.’s decision to discontinue free tax preparation in New York City, leading the Bloch brothers to open seven offices there in 1956."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/obit ... -dead.html