Florence DeBardeleben

Florence DeBardeleben, 86, of Gulf Breeze, Florida and formerly of Princeton, New Jersey, passed away on Thursday July 10, 2025, following a stroke. She leaves a legacy of loving kindness, unwavering encouragement and Grammy group hugs! Born to William Walker and Florence Fredericks in 1939, she spent most of her early life in Mastic, Long Island. She graduated valedictorian from William Floyd School (per her good friend of almost 80 years, Judy Tidwell), and after graduating from Center Moriches High School, she went on to earn an Associate of Arts degree in Medical Secretarial Sciences at Rider College in New Jersey. She met and married her first husband and they had four children together. Once all of her children were in elementary school, she started working as a Staff Coordinator at the Medical Center at Princeton and then became an executive assistant to C-suite leaders at various companies in the Princeton area. Florence studied for her financial services Series 7 and Series 63 licenses while working full time and became a Registered Representative, when she started commuting from Princeton Junction to Manhattan to work at several financial firms until her retirement.

It was on those train rides to NYC that she met her loving husband, John, aka “My Darling Man”, who helped her onto the train when she was on crutches. It was fitting that their last name translates to Singer of Life because singing was her favorite pastime! She had so many interests over the years, such as playing basketball and the French horn in high school (passing her love of brass instruments to her children), painting, gardening, being a Girl Scout leader, dancing (including joining in dance classes with her daughters when they were teenagers), and swimming (up to a mile every day), but singing was her life! She started singing as a child at Presbyterian Church of the Moriches, and she raised her children singing every Sunday in the church choir of St. Francis of Assisi in Trenton, New Jersey. She loved singing so much that she was singing almost every day through her participation in three different choirs over the last few years. Her rich Alto voice was well-recognized and appreciated by her choir directors and fellow singers. It was such a blessing that her husband John could share singing in the choir with her. He predeceased her, but now she is reunited with him, singing for her precious Savior Jesus to her heart’s content with her darling man and the angels!

Florence leaves behind a very large family who will miss her dearly, including her four children, Rick (Rosa) Kaiser, Joanne Kaiser, Carole (Robert) Leitgeb, and Linda Kaiser (Dennis Verhagen); three stepchildren, Jack (Jane) DeBardeleben, Chuck (Stacy) DeBardeleben, and Eve (Buck) Roebuck; along with many grandchildren, step-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and step-great-grandchildren, not to mention her family of the heart, the Smiths; her youthfulness was an inspiration to so many!

Visitation will be held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Friday, July 18, 2025 at Eastern Gate Memorial Funeral Home, 1985 West Nine Mile Road, Pensacola. A Christian burial service will be celebrated at 10:00 AM on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at McIlwain Church, 1220 E. Blount St, Pensacola, Florida.