Flore Zéphir, 59, of Columbia, MO. died on Friday, December 15, 2017 at the University of Missouri Hospital. Visitation will be at Memorial Funeral Home, 1217 Business Loop 70 West, Columbia from 5-7pm on Thursday, December 21 with funeral service at 10am, Friday December 22. Burial will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.
Flore was born on January 11, 1958 in Jeremie, Haiti to Sylla Zéphir and France Garoute. In 1975, she moved from Haiti to the United States. She graduated from Hunter College of the City University of New York, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and education in 1980. She attended Indiana University-Bloomington where she earned two Master of Arts degrees in 1983 and a Ph.D. in French Linguistics in 1990.
Flore started teaching at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1988 in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. She was a professor of French and chair of the department as well as coordinator of the Master’s program in foreign language teaching. She was a faculty fellow in the Division of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. She served previously as department chair from 2008 to 2014, and as director of the Afro-Romance Institute from 2008 to 2016. She was also chair of the Linguistics Area Program from 2004 to 2007. She served on the MU Faculty Council from 2015 to 2017 and from 2003 to 2006.
Flore is the author of three books on Haitian immigration and ethnic identification as well as numerous articles and review essays. She received several awards at MU including a 1995 Kemper award for excellence in teaching, a 2003 award for excellence in advising and a Faculty-Alumni award in 2004.
She is survived by her daughter, Ambre Zéphir Michel and husband Terrance Floyd of Minneapolis, MN; her mother, France Garoute of Columbia, MO.; her sister, Dominique Zéphir and husband Roland Amoussouga of Montreal, Canada; her brothers, Kalil Zéphir and Emmanuel Zéphir of Haiti. Her father preceded her in death.
There will be a memorial service on Wednesday, December 20 at 10:00 am. on the University of Missouri campus at the Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns C.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Professor Flore Zéphir Memorial Fund at the University of Missouri. The Fund will support research and travel for graduate students in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Online contributions may be made at: https://tinyurl.com/zephirmemorialfund.
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