Flora Secular

Flora Secular died on Labor Day, September 4, 2023, 18 Elul 5783, at the age of 100 after a brief illness. She is survived by her son Keith Secular (Susan Catler) and his children Abraham, Deborah, and Ruth Secular; her son David (Sallie) Secular, his children Jennifer, Samantha, and Michael Secular, and his granddaughter Michella Johnson; and daughter Lisa Secular (John Gibson), and her children Rebecca and James Gibson and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Richard Secular, siblings Michael (Gerry) Zimmerman and Jean (Adrian) Coleman, and parents Miriam and Ephriam Isaac Zimmerman.

The Funeral service will be Wednesday, September 6, 2023 at 12:30pm at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 21 West Broad Street, Mount Vernon, New York, followed by interment at New Mount Carmel Cemetery, 83-45 Cypress Hills Street, Glendale NY 11385. The funeral will be live-streamed. For Zoom information, follow the Live-Stream link below.

The mourners will be sitting shiva on Wednesday, September 6, 2023 from 7 - 9pm at the home of Lisa Secular and John Gibson and on Thursday, September 7, 2023 from 3 - 5pm and 7 - 9pm at the home of David and Sallie Secular.

Flora Esther Zimmerman was born on August 26, 1923 in Hackney, London. After graduating from high school, she entered the Women's Royal Air Force and was trained as a meteorologist. She served throughout World War II, first in London during the Blitz and then at various air force bases throughout the United Kingdom.

After the war, she went to the United States and met Richard Secular in New York. They married and had three children - Keith, David, and Lisa - living first in Brooklyn with her in-laws and then in New Rochelle. She worked for many years for the New Rochelle school system.

Flora cared for her family, especially by feeding them her special recipes, many of them learned from her mother-in-law Bertha (James) Secular, including gefilte fish, thick chicken soup, fruit borscht, baked barbecue chicken, and meat balls with Rice Krispies. Until her recent illness she was a voracious reader, consuming three or four books a week, usually histories and mysteries, and doing the New York Times crossword puzzle each day in pen. She was able to celebrate her recent 100th birthday with her entire extended family - her three children and their spouses, her eight grandchildren and their five significant others, and her great-granddaughter, as well as four of her English relatives.

May the family be comforted and her memory be a blessing.

To make a contribution in memory of Flora Secular to the Flora & Richard Secular Scholarship Fund at NYU Law School, follow this link HERE --> https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/21763/donations/new designate "Other" and then write in the "Flora & Richard Secular Scholarship Fund," or to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), follow link the HERE --> https://shorturl.at/qLUXZ