Florence was a very, very special woman, very special friend.

Grandma was feisty, Grandma was kind, Grandma was clever, Grandma was playful.
Family was her number one priority, and she gave all she could to her children and to her grandchildren. She was young when her mom passed, and I would like to think this influenced her strong ability to care, to nurture and to give of herself. She always gave and always with no strings attached. The only thing I felt she wanted to know, was that you know the value of a gift. If she thought you needed motivation, she made you work an honest day for it. If she thought you needed help, she gave without compunction. She loved spending time with her family.
Grandma was independent. She helped raise her siblings, she left home early, she left a marriage that had run its course, and she worked her whole life. My first memories of her really started after she had left her first marriage. She worked in a factory, she worked hard, so hard her colleagues told her to slow down, or she would ruin the average times. She told them to “stick it” and worked the way she wanted – honest, swiftly and responsibly.
She took me in my senior year in high school. I lived with her for many months, and I got to know her well. It was a long time ago, but I remember she treated me like an adult – even though I wasn’t yet. That enabled me to grow and to become a responsible young man.
She helped others in the family when they needed it. With advice, with her time, with her resources, with a corny joke, with an old-fashioned saying, with her kindness and with her love.
She outlived three partners, two husbands and one long-term significant other. She had a great life, in my humble opinion. I think she would have said her life was great, too.
I miss her.
“Well there’s nothin’ to do, but get on with it.”
Grandma’s words, not mine, I can hear her voice saying them now.

Florence is my grandma. Growing up, I didn’t feel like I had the same kind of grandma as other kids. Their grandmas were sweet, quiet, and nurturing. My grandma was teaching me how to chop off a rattlesnake’s head and not to touch it once it was severed because it could still bite 😆 As I got older, I could see how fortunate I was and am to have had Florence as my grandma. She taught me the importance and sanctity of honesty. She taught me how to stand up for myself and speak up. She taught me how to take up space as a woman in this world, and she taught me that not taking myself too seriously is a good way to stay humble and playful in a world that can feel all too heavy at times. 

She had a cheers she loved: “Cheers to the bottom, to hell with the top; if it wasn’t for the bottom, we wouldn’t have a drop.” I’ve always loved this saying because, to me, it serves as a good reminder to cherish each stage of life. The “highs” and the “lows” because each one has something to offer and inevitably bleeds into the other. It helps make one’s life whole. I admire how my grandmother never shied away from a difficult time, nor did she wallow in it. And she also never turned down a chance to have fun and was often at the center of it.

We share a love of adventure, and I believe she’s on her next big adventure now. And while it breaks my heart that we can’t go on this particular adventure together, I promised her I would keep my eyes, heart, mind, and ears open for little ways she tries to say hello, and I’m keeping that promise until we’re reunited. Loving you in this life and beyond, grandma. - Pumpkin Head (AKA Dani Schiess)

She saved and saved and saved… Every penny she found, lost items on the road, and the troubled souls of every generation in the family. 

And she gave and she gave and she gave… Her time, her money, and her unconditional love and support. 

Hands so big they cared for 4 generations. No one out grandma’d Grandma. 

Thank you for accepting me as I am and for holding all the strings together when no one else could.

OBITUARIO

Florence Helen Lenaway

12 enero, 1931 – 21 septiembre, 2024

East Lawn Palms Mortuary & Cemetery

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