Florence Hoey

Florence (Chin) Hoey, 93, of Lynn, passed away on July 4, 2022, just in time to watch the Boston Pops fireworks from on high. Born to Soo Wah and Ethel Chin of Chelsea on August 3, 1928, the ninth of 11 children, Flossie was known for her bright smile, patient spirit, and curious mind. As a youngster, she could be found roller skating outside of the courthouse, listening to Red Sox games for her older brothers, and, later, taking the trolley into town for her first job at Filene’s Basement. A quick and eager study, Flossie skipped two grades, was one of the first women accepted into Northeastern University’s chemistry department, and, during college, worked at MIT’s Draper Lab. At 20, she married Walter Hoey and the couple raised five children while running the family laundry in Lynn. She also supported Wally in his second career as a photographer for the Lynn Daily Item, and eventually retired from Eastman Gelatin. People were her joy, especially if she could knit or crochet a blanket in their favorite color. She found any connection to loved ones, the arts, and the world as a gift: gabbing on the kitchen phones, listening to André Rieu and “her Josh” Groban, following the latest figure skaters, traveling with Wally to Asia, London, and San Francisco, and making ice cream-topped waffles for the grandchildren after a day at King’s Beach. She was the happiest camper on road trips to Dollywood and Mount Rushmore. Her love was an open door for all, human and many four-legged friends alike. She was the best of us, and now she’s dancing with the stars—and her Wally—forever. Flossie was the loving mother of Carolyn Livingston, Beverly and Gin Wong, Susan, Wayne and Josephine Hoey, and Patricia and Kyle Martin; the proud “Grammie” of Heather Wong, Gregory Wong and Kendra Malizia, Jeffrey Livingston and Rita Mercado, Melissa and Ryan Greeley, Kristin Livingston, and Wayne II and Sarah Hoey; and the adoring great-grandmother of Sereniti Beck, Colin, Nicolas, and Caroline Greeley, Jacoby Livingston, and Wayne Hoey III.

Flossie’s funeral Service will be held in the Cuffe-McGinn Funeral Home, 157 Maple St., Lynn on Saturday at 10 a.m. Relatives and friends are invited. Interment will follow in Pine Grove Cemetery. A memorial service will also be held at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2540 William Few Parkway, Evans, GA on Saturday, July 23 at 4:00 p.m.