Florence Kathryn Bill

She was a wonderful and beloved mother, grandmother, and “auntie,” and is survived by her loving children, daughter Marjorie Aker and her husband, John; son, Robert and his wife, Judith, all of Palmyra; and son, Donald and his wife, Nancy, of San Diego, California. She had nine grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and a niece and nephew. As a young girl, “Flo” roller-skated across the Bronx neighborhoods and relished attending Girl Scout camp in the Hudson Highlands, where she made many lifelong friends and developed a love of nature and the outdoors. After graduating from Morris High School in 1925 and then business school, she had an active career as a secretary in New York City. She married Harold, a church organist and choir director, in 1929. She pursued her love of music and sang in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. During World War II she did her part by sending “Bundles to Britain” and assisting Harold when he served as an air raid warden. After being widowed in 1957, she remained active, employed in various secretarial jobs, including one at West Point Military Academy, and helping her children and grandchildren. She visited Marge and John everywhere the United States Army stationed them assisting in the care of their growing family. It was on an ocean liner to Germany that she met her second husband. She learned to square dance and loved to hike, boat, fish and swim. Florence took up bird-watching, became bird chairman of her local garden club, and was the “go-to” specialist when neighbors had questions about how to help injured birds. She was an avid reader and loved playing word games. She began painting in oils and became an award-winning nature and still-life artist. When she moved to Lake Monticello, at age 80, she became a member of the Fluvanna Art Association and treasured the new friendships she made there. She continued painting into her 90’s when her eyesight failed. Florence will be remembered and cherished for her indomitable spirit. She had a true zest for life and maintained a positive outlook. She was kind and generous; her greatest goal in life was to do good for others, a goal she achieved well. She loved her family and was always happy to help with the “newest arrival” and, up until the last week of life, never failed to ask how each family member was doing, keeping up with their studies, careers, travels, and pursuits and encouraging them along the way. She was a loyal friend and enjoyed hosting tea parties to bring her companions together. Florence had a keen memory and great story-telling skills, recalling and relaying in detail her childhood and young adulthood in old NYC. She recalled horse-drawn fire wagons racing down cobblestone city streets, and tossing ticker tape out of her office window onto a parade for Lindbergh after his successful transatlantic flight in 1927. Florence was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Ft. Montgomery, New York, where a memorial service will be held. She will be interred alongside Harold at Peacedale Cemetery, Highland Falls, New York. Final arrangements were provided by Cremation Society of Virginia. Florence’s family gives special thanks to the personal caregivers who made it possible for her to remain in her home for many years due to their capable and loving service, and to the staff of Hospice of the Piedmont. Her family is filled with gratitude for having lived in the sunshine of so great a life. She will be missed. Good night, sweet Florence, “and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”.