Lois Flora

Date of Birth

Jun 13,1920

Date of Death

Apr 24,2016

Lois S. Flora, age 95, of Aurora, passed away Sunday evening, April 24, 2016, at Delnor Hospital in Geneva, IL.

She was born June 13, 1920, in Binghamton, NY, the daughter of Ted and Florence (Nabinger) Squires.

Lois grew up in Endicott and attended local schools. She graduated from Endicott High School with the class of 1937.

Lois worked for a local bank for a time before transferring to the Navy Department during WWII. Upon her return, she met a man in uniform that she just couldn’t pass up. The Army has sent Henry Flora to New York to train in radar and although Lois thought at first his name was Henry Ford, she married him anyway. Their two hearts became one on October 23, 1943 in MO, and spent the next 870 months of wedded bliss together minus a two year stint in the United States Army Signal Corp during WWII.

They began their new life together for all of four days before Henry was shipped off to serve his country in the South Pacific. As a First Lieutenant, Henry was in charge of secure communications under General MacArthur, both in Australia as well as on a ship in the Philippine’s. While he was away, they were blessed with a son, Robert, while living with her parents. After the war, Henry came home to a one and a half year old son which he met for the first time. The family moved to Morristown NJ, then on to Levittown on Long Island where they welcomed home their first daughter before the growing family caught up to Henry in Falls Church, Virginia, where Henry was serving his country once again at the Pentagon during the Korean war. They returned to Levittown and added another son, Steve. Hyde Park, NY was their next destination where their daughter Hollie made the family complete. After the kids were grown (and thirty years later), Lois and Henry moved to Lake Wales, FL for a short time before settling into Fruitland Park. Nineteen years of memories passed before they moved to their current home in Aurora, IL, to be near family in 2003.

Lois was active in the Gideon’s International, the organization that places scriptures worldwide. She was a faithful member and Superintendent of the Junior Sunday School at Faith Assembly Church in Poughkeepsie, NY. She helped found Bible Study groups out of her home and began a ministry in the middle of a poverty stricken area of Compton Road, Hyde Park. She led many of those children to attend church and all remember her fondly even decades later. Lois was also a member of the Lois Club, an official club where only those with the name Lois were admitted. Most recently, she and Henry were members of First Baptist Church of Geneva.

Lois’s biological mother Lucy (young and single) was not able to raise Lois and complications from her breach delivery made it so Lois was born with a broken arm. She was given up for adoption, and eventually Lucy would become a “special friend” to the adoptive family but with the solemn stipulation that she would never ever reveal her true maternal identity to anyone under any circumstance. Ted and Florence were very open with Lois about the adoption, but kept Lucy’s secret from Lois and eventually Lois’s children. Only when Lucy thought she was dying at the age of 97, did the family truly know the special connection that was made when Lois was only a babe. She lived another six years was welcomed into the family as an instant mother and grandmother.

Lois was a fun loving person who had the innate ability to not only laugh at herself, but encouraged others to do so as well. Her laugh was easy and her heart was ever open to love. Arguments were so very few and very far between, that their love story seems unbelievable, but the evidence of their love can be found in daily interactions, and the devotion they had for each other could be plainly seen. Lois was a caring mother who was an example of the balance between gently guiding her children and letting them live freely.

She is survived by her loving husband, Henry; four children: Bob (Marilyne) Flora, Heather (Stanley) Birnbaum, Steve (Sharon Presti) Flora and Hollie (Alan) Flora-Holmquist; Eleven grandchildren: Linnann (Pascal) Muhlemann and their children Sedona and Zack; Lisa Flora, Rachel Birnbaum, Wendy Birnbaum, Stephen (Shoshana) Birnbaum and their son Shalev; Andrew (Gal) Birnbaum, Chiam Birnbaum, Luke (Larissa) Flora, Amber (Kevin) Lawless, Jade Flora-Holmquist, and Garnet (Will Dowling) Flora-Holmquist who will be welcoming their son soon; her brother, Rev. Stuart Squires; many nieces, nephews and a countryside full of friends.

Lois is preceded in death by her parents, Ted and Florence and one granddaughter, Hadessa Flora.

Visitation will be from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Friday, April 29, 2016, with a funeral service to follow at 10:30 a.m., at First Baptist Church of Geneva, East Campus, 2300 South St., Geneva, IL. Rev. Jeff Frazier, Senior Pastor of the church, will officiate. Private burial at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery will follow at a later date.

A memorial can be placed through Gideon’s International, who minister through distributing scripture throughout the world. Those who contribute in Lois’s memory will be continuing the spirit of the work that both Lois and Henry hold dear to their hearts. You may mail contributions to Gideon’s International, 2900 Lebanon Rd., Nashville, TN 37214 or contribute online at www.gideons.org. Tributes may also be forwarded to the Conley Funeral Home Facebook Page, or at www.conleycare.com.

Visitation will be from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Friday, April 29, 2016, with a funeral service to follow at 10:30 a.m., at First Baptist Church of Geneva, East Campus, 2300 South St., Geneva, IL. Rev. Jeff Frazier, Senior Pastor of the church, will officiate.

Visitation will be from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Friday, April 29, 2016, with a funeral service to follow at 10:30 a.m., at First Baptist Church of Geneva, East Campus, 2300 South St., Geneva, IL. Rev. Jeff Frazier, Senior Pastor of the church, will officiate.

Private burial at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery will follow at a later date.

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