Nils Florman

Nils Kohler Florman, Jr, 81 a proud Vietnam veteran, formerly of Miami, Florida passed away peacefully April 29, 2025 at the VA Medical Center in Saint Cloud, Minnesota following a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He was born in New York City, July 17, 1943 to the late Nils Kohler Florman, Sr and Dorothy Healy Florman.

Survivors include his brother Mark Florman (Emma), sister Cynthia Florman Hamre (Jack), nephew John Hamre, niece Thea Hamre, brother in law Michael Fry (Gail) and former wife Terri Morris Hendry. He was predeceased by his parents and his wife Nancy Fry Florman.

A New York native, Nils was raised in Mexico City and attended American School Foundation, Mexico City, Mexico and Tabor Academy. After his year at Tabor he embarked on a year long sailing cruise with his family. Nils wrote “Following my all too brief year at Tabor, I was kidnapped for a Caribbean cruise on the family sailboat by my Father (who also grabbed my Mother, Dorothy and my brother Mark and sister, Cynthia) Our first stop (after the Keys) was in Cuba, to which we arrived about 7 months before Fidel's takeover. Although I thought the Caribbean Cruise meant I had escaped school from that point on, such was not the case…” After the cruise he graduated from Central Catholic High School class of 1961 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Following a stint in the Army with a year in Vietnam he studied English Literature and creative writing graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts from University of South Florida in Tampa.

Among the many adventures Nils had in his life, the one that was probably his favorite was when the Florman family purchased a 33 foot wooden sailboat and spent 4 1/2 months cruising the Caribbean as a family of five on this boat. The most exciting part of that was cruising the north coast of Cuba for three months during the Cuban Revolution! Nils was 15 years old and had already become his father’s right hand, first mate and radio operator on the boat. Some of the exciting episodes on that trip were Nils saving his 2 1/2 year-old sister Cynthia‘s life, being shadowed by the Cuban military who weren’t sure if this family of five was trying to help the (Castro) revolution or not. In Haiti, they actually experienced being shot at and house arrested by the Ton-Ton Macoutte, the private army of the brutal dictator, François Duvalier, who initially thought that the Florman family was there to overthrow the dictator's regime! With Nils’ help they survived all of that and wound up sailing back to Fort Lauderdale and settling there.

Following college Nils briefly worked as a postal carrier for the US Postal Service. Nils was a District Sales Manager at Varig Brazilian Airlines followed by being a Regional Sales Manager at Compania Mexicana de Aviacion. Upon retirement from the airlines Nils became a yacht broker at Alliance Marine in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Nils had a lot of achievements and success in community theater, starting in Fort Lauderdale with the Fort Lauderdale Junior theater, a group consisting entirely of teenagers, producing full blown Broadway musicals on their own with minimal adult supervision. Nils became a leader of this group and liked to say that his favorite role was playing God in the Archibald McLeish drama “ JB”. He always maintained that it was typecasting! Another highlight was when three Florman men, Nils Senior, Nils Junior and Mark performed in a production of Maxwell Anderson’s Joan of Lorraine at the Fort Lauderdale Little Theatre. Nils continued his acting career and was one of the founders of The New Depot Players in Conyers, Georgia. He also appeared as an extra in several movies.

Most noteworthy was Nils dedication to his late wife Nancy. During the last ten years of her life Nils was her constant care giver as she battled cancer.

In the years following his early retirement from the airline industry Nils lived aboard his boat “Second Act” at several marinas in Miami. His love of boating led him to become the Commodore of the Matheson Hammock Yacht Club.

The funeral will be held June 30, 2025, 11:00 AM at Fred Hunter’s Funeral Home, 718 S Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, Florida followed by interment at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale. Following the funeral there will be a celebration of life at a location to be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to honor Nils may be made to The New Depot Players, PO Box 1344, Conyers, GA 30012