Florence M. Gard

A mother is someone to shelter and guide us. The heart of a mother is full of forgiveness for any mistake big or small and generous always in helping her family, whose needs she has placed above all. Mom, thank you for all the sacrifices you made on my behalf and thank you, thank you, thank you for your unconditional love. I will miss you terribly, With all my love, Margo Our mother, so much Love for all of us, so much faith in GOD, what an inspiration you have been in our lives. You gave us this family we could never thank you enough. We will always remember..Stepping stones to Heaven...until we meet again, you will be missed in all of our hearts. Lovingly Mary, Tommy and Zach. Mom, thank you for your love and support. You loved the flowers and birds and all the children. There are no better Mothers than you. I know you will be watching over all of us. Love your son, Rick Our Beloved Mom Florence/ Curley's wife Of greatest importance in our lives is what we do with that space between the beginning and the end of our lives, etched on our tombstones; that brief time that God gives each of us to prove our souls are worthy of His eternal mercy and love in Heaven! In Mom's case it began on July 8,1926 and expired on march 10, 2017, over 90 years later! In 1926, the Mt. Olive Pickle Company was formed in North Carolina. -That same year, the Maid Rite hamburger company was formed. -In the midst of the Roaring 20's, Prohibition from 1920-33, and the Great Depression from 1929-1939 -WWI 1914-1918 Her father-Grandpa Montgomery-was in the Army in trench warfare, was gassed, shell shocked,hospitaliized, and died in a V.A. hospital in Rock Island -WW2 1939-1945 Florence's brother- Uncle Johnny-was a MP in the Army and was wounded in the leg. Eventually he passed away in a V.A. hospital in Des Moines. -Vietnam War 1955-1975- Harry joined the Navy and served on a destroyer from Feb. 1, 1965 until Feb. 6, 1969. He passed several years later as a result of misdiagnosed lung cancer, probably from the asbestos on the naval ships. Billy James- USMC Vietnam 1969-1970 Outpost that he was in, NW of Da Nang, was attacked and nearly overrun twice She was witness to six wars in her lifetime, and 16 United States Presidents- From Coolidge to Trump. Your strength, faith and love will live forever in our hearts. We will miss you. Love, Pam, Andrew, Amy and Roberto Dear Mom's life revolved almost totally around all of the children, grand children, and great grand children in our family. Understandably, she had arthritis in her hands from "washing all those baby diapers". This began before the age of Pampers, these were cotton- hand washed, hung out on clothes lines, and yes, froze in the winter! -A conservative estimate of 32,400 diapers. -Laundry at least twice a day, equating to approximately 28,800 loads - How many meals prepared? 33,000 or more -Birthday cakes, holiday parties, picnics, graduations- Incalculable! Rick mentioned that God has many babies in Heaven that He needs help with. Yes, dear Mom has plenty of grand, loving things to do in Heaven! I would like to share an email that I received from Elisa. I once read a book called : one more day... A story of a child that wanted to spend one more day with his Mother before she died... And during the story he does have the opportunity to do so and when the Mother "leaves" again she tells him...I will never leave you if I am in your heart ..I am like an Echo..I persist even when the noise is gone.. And when can you hear me the most? When there is silence. Thank you Elisa for sharing this beautiful story with my family. Rick Mom how do I even begin to thank you for being the most wonderful, caring and loving person to your children, grandchildren and everyone around you. We miss you so much. I will save the bread and feed the birds for you and stop to smell the flowers. A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck! We all love you so much, god bless you. George, Joy, Kayla and Jenna Florence Florencia means to Flower or Blossom Mom we are so Blessed to have had you.You are the most remarkable woman I know,your strength and gentleness will live in us forever.And most important thank you for passing on your faith and commitment to God.I love you God Bless You forever. Love Jerry. Dear Grandma, While I know you're in a better place and you aren't suffering anymore, it's hard to imagine that you won't be there anymore, sitting at mom's dining room table for lunch on a Sunday afternoon or at our family holidays and gatherings. Whether it was saying grace before a meal, reading me coupons and the latest sales ads from the newspaper or showing me old pictures and telling me stories about the family and your life, your presence was always a constant. You loved a good party and you were always up for a card game or some scratch off tickets - I love that you'd jump at any reason to gamble a little. I'll always remember the way you'd laugh out loud and holler at a funny movie, your ability to appreciate the simple things in life and all of the little nick-nacks you liked to collect. And of course the candy and chocolate and cookies you'd give to us kids every time you saw us, as any good diabetic Grandmother would do. You also had the strongest faith of anyone I've ever known. Even when things were hard, I never heard you complain but instead you would use that optimistic, all-knowing phrase that we've come to know so well - it's just stepping stones to heaven. I wish you could have met this new little one and that she could have known you too. But I know that just as God has taken a life from us, He has blessed us with another one. As you take that final stepping stone into heaven, I know you're looking down on your family, smiling at the legacy you've created and celebrating your life with us. I love you Grandma. Love, Jennifer Dear Mother- In Your Honor For all the beauty you brought into our lives You taught us to always smell the flower, even now when I look at my blooming pansies; I appreciate their beauty because of you. Your belief in the power of prayer and solid faith in God, helped build a strong foundation to live our lives and get through the hard times. You made sure we all made our first communion, had to drag us as teenagers kicking and fighting to go to confession and Sunday Mass. The older kids went to Catholic High Schools. Despite your hardships, and there were many throughout your life and sadly, at the end, but you always had a kind word, a prayer for those less fortunate. You have an incredible legacy-10 kids, 18 grandkids, 21 great grandkids, 2 great great grandkids. Nurses, Lawyer, engineers, dentists- all from a very humble woman. Mom, you are the smartest and wisest person I know. Your simple, but profound words of wisdom- we know them well…like stepping stones to heaven still echo today. All from a humble woman, words that none of us "educated" business savvy kids could appreciate until we found ourselves sharing the same wisdom, hope and prayer for our kids. Wisdom, at times, only made me mad because as a teenager, I wanted more concrete answers, not vague ideas based wholly on faith in God. Things like: Step aside and let it pass by and Put it in the hands of the Lord. Her strong Catholic faith was the basis of our values and the best she could teach us. Thank you Mom. I love you, Jane. Love you, God Bless you. Bill and Bev Dear Grandma, Mom and I still laugh about the time I tried to help you with the bag of Easter candy and you thought that I was trying to eat it. We still laugh and laugh. Love Mattie