Florence E. Robinson

Born in Brooklyn, New York , on February 21, 1926, Florence Elizabeth Iwinski was delivered by a midwife at her home on Jewel Street. She grew up in Jackson Heights, NYC and spent her summers in Beachwood, New Jersey.

Flo enjoyed all kinds of music, especially Frank Sinatra. As a teen, her dad surprised her with a trip to see him at the Paramount. She said “I remember standing in line a long time dressed in my short dress and my bobby socks and saddle shoes. The concert was wonderful.”

Florence met the love of her life Bob Robinson on a date arranged by their moms. “Bob was carrying a tennis racket and was in white shorts, sneakers and a white shirt. When I walked down the (subway) stairs and saw Bob, I said ‘I’m going to marry that man’. And I did 11 months later on July 2, 1947”. They raised their family in Massapequa Park, NY and were married for 65 years until Bob passed away.

Flo was always volunteering – taking the nuns on trips, being a girl scout leader, being a “mom taxi service”, and working the polls during elections. Her house was filled with kids (her own and those from the neighborhood). She put her oldest daughter in college and her youngest son in kindergarten on the same day.

For Flo, there was no such thing as a stranger. She met her best friend in a car accident, invited people she met at the supermarket to her parties (which years later are still talked about) and she never forgot a name. She enjoyed a good glass of scotch, a hot cup of tea and played a mean game of rummy.

No one left her home without a box of homemade chocolates, and everyone was welcome at her table, especially during the holidays. At Christmas, she filled the house with decorations and feasts. She insisted on Easter Egg hunts. Often, her middle-aged children would spend hours trying to find that last egg.

She never lost her sense of wonder. When she reached her 80s and 90s, Flo traveled, built snowmen, played with toy trains, toured Tuscany in a convertible and rode a hot air balloon. Her last years were spent at the Bentley Commons in New Hampshire where she played bingo, enjoyed happy hours, did crafts, went boating and sat in the first row for every live musical concert.

Florence is survived by 4 children – Janie Lee and her husband Bob, Ritch and his wife Mary, Nancy and her husband Sal, and Robert; along with her grandchildren – Andrea (and Jack) and Christopher (and Maura) . Her pride and joy was her great grandson - Finn.

Flo sometimes sold her crafts and donated the money to the Alzheimer’s Association. In lieu of flowers, we are asking that the tradition be continued. Donations may be made to the Western NH Walk to End Alzheimer, Alzheimer Association, 166 S River Rd, Bedford, NH 03110.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 180 Loudon Rd. Concord, NH on Friday, August 10, 2018 at 12pm. Burial will be held in the NH Veteran’s Cemetery, Daniel Webster Hwy, Boscawen, NH at 2pm.