Florence I. Whitcomb

 Florence I. Whitcomb passed away on Sunday afternoon, January 2, 2011, in the home she has lived in for 60 years.  Her three children Kathy, Mike, and Stephen were by her side when the Lord called her home.  
Flo, Small Fry as she is known by many, was born in White Cloud, Michigan on August 22, 1919 to Charles V. and Myrtle E. (Thebo) Fry.  She was 91 years old when she passed away.  She married Alden (Olie) Whitcomb on December 17, 1943 at the Alameda Naval Air Station, Alameda, California.  Olie and Flo met when they were serving in the Navy as Aviation Machinist Mates and married after a very short courtship.  They were married almost 49 years when Olie passed away on December 2, 1992.  
Flo was devoted to the church, sang in the choir for many years, and loved music, walking, traveling and spending time with her family.  Her companion for the last 14 years, Gerald (Dude) Bullock and Flo, were devoted to each other.  They loved to travel, visit their children, go home when they got homesick, and watch The Lawrence Welk Show.
Flo is survived by her three children, Kathleen A. Campbell, Michael J. Whitcomb, and Stephen C. Whitcomb; five grandchildren, John and Jennifer Olvey, Lynn C. Whitcomb, Jeffrey M. Whitcomb, and Mollie Sullivan; and three great-grandchildren, Alden L. Olvey, Ewan R. Whitcomb-Stark, and Natalie A. Rasperger.  She is also survived by many nieces and nephews including great, great-great, and great-great-great nieces and nephews.
Flo was preceded in death by her sisters Hazel M. Fowler, Marjorie Fry Beeler, Laura Burke Babcock, Mabel Fry, and her brothers, Norman Fry, Louis Fry, Lloyd Fry, and Robert Fry.
Flo touched a lot of lives with a profound impact on each of them and will be missed by all that knew her.  To honor her there will be a Celebration of Flo’s Life at the Englewood United Methodist Church, 3885 So. Broadway, Englewood, CO 80113 at 1:00 PM on Saturday January 8, 2011.

Dear Mom,

In your heart a peaceful ocean

Rests beneath the skies

Of sunshine from above

To shine through your eyes

With your glow if inner beauty

Upon all who felt your warmth

Flo out to the bays

At the high tides of your life

And everyone here, as I

Were the bays your waters filled

With that confident repose

We experienced in your light

Bringing joy to all

Who were blessed enough to feel

Your peaceful inner waters

Beneath the brightness of your smile

Then your light began to flicker

As the tides pulled you away

Your ocean peace began to wane

And all the bays saw your glow

Slowly fade into darkness

As loves enemy pulled you down

From our souls who’d known your joy

Like a calm, glasslike sea

And everyone who loved you

Knew what had to be

When the tide pulled you out

And our bays lay dry and bare

Then the skies received your life

To your everlasting home

To rain your memories from on high

Where with Christ, Mom, forever you are free

Love, Stephen

WOMEN IN MILITARY SERVICE FOR AMERICA
CHARTER MEMBER OF “The WOMEN’S MEMORIAL”

My great-grandma has been a maverick her whole life.  As soon as the Navy WAVES program started, she applied, initially she was not accepted because of her eyes, but she refused to believe it and made them re-test her.  She was then part of the 2nd WAVES class when she entered her service in 1942 as an aircraft mechanic. I asked my great-grandma why she wanted to be a mechanic, and her reply was simply there was a war going on, she volunteered for whatever would best serve the country. There were no facilities for females initially, so her boot camp was at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa during the winter when at times it got to 20 below zero.  After boot camp she went to A-school, where the other women thought her brazen because at night she wore a bright red nightgown.  She said this was also the beginning of the era that allowed women to wear slacks, but ONLY when in uniform.  She remembers marching in parades, grinding pistons next to male sailors, and meeting my great-grandpa, whom I am named after, in the beer garden on base.  After getting out of the service, great-grandma moved to Colorado where my great-grandpa’s family was, but soon decided that she missed the Navy so much, she returned to California to do the same job as a civilian.  I am very proud of my great-grandma and look up to her as one of my role models.

Honored By:  Alden L. Olvey