Iris June Hart Young

Iris June Hart Young, age 96, died October 27, 2023. She was born June 7, 1927, in Ft. Meade, Florida, to father Isaac Clyde Hart, and mother, Bryan Watson Hart. Iris grew up in Sebring, Florida, where her family owned and operated a large cattle ranch. While at Sebring High School, she played the trumpet in the band and was a band majorette. She taught beginning students on how to play their instruments as well.

In the early 1940s, World War II was at its height and Iris held three positions simultaneously, including social editor of the local Sebring newspaper, assistant to the war surplus manager at Hendrix Field, and worked for the county extension agent for Highlands County. Following high school graduation, she attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and graduated magna cum laude in three years with a major in speech and a minor in music. While at Stetson, Iris was active in the band and played part time with a dance orchestra. She was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, of which she remained a lifelong member.

Following graduation from Stetson, Iris took post graduate courses toward a Master’s Degree at Duke University. However, before completing that degree, she took a position as secretarial assistant to J. Hardin Peterson, who was then a Florida Congressman from Lakeland, Florida. Because the Congressman had offices in both Lakeland and Washington, D.C., Iris spent considerable time traveling between the two states, and made numerous trips with the Congressman and his wife to the Dry Tortugas and other exotic locations which were under his congressional jurisdiction.

While working in Washington, Iris met her future husband, George C. Young, and they married on October 6, 1951. George was at that time the administrative assistant to Florida Senator George Smathers. Their positions in Washington connected them with prominent political and society figures who would remain friends for life.

After four years in Washington, the couple moved to Jacksonville, Florida. While in Jacksonville, they had two children, George C. Young, Jr. and Barbara Ann Young, and Iris resumed her active involvement in local civic affairs, with a particular interest in the Visiting Nurses Association program.

In 1963, the Young family moved to Orlando after George’s appointment as Federal Judge for the Middle District of Florida by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. In Orlando, she continued to raise her two children, support her husband’s career, and maintained her involvement in civic activities by becoming President of the Visiting Nurses Association, as well as being an active member of the Junior League. During this time, she became an avid tennis player, but after joining the Country Club of Orlando, she turned her interest to golf and became an even more avid golfer, later becoming President of the Ladies Golf Club at the Country Club. She also enjoyed playing golf at their summer home in Newland, North Carolina, and was a member of the Mountain Glen Ladies Golf Club.

During her lifetime, Iris traveled to many locations around the globe, with a particular love of England and sailed on a myriad of cruise ships. She inherited a portion of her family’s cattle ranch in Sebring and thereafter remained a very active cattle rancher and businesswoman for more than five decades. She was always a voracious reader and loved to host monthly Book Club gatherings. Iris always had a ready smile and friendly face for anyone she came into contact. She will be remembered for many things, but particularly her intelligence, her devotion to her family, her loyalty to her numerous lifetime friends, and her kindness to all.

Iris was predeceased in death by her husband, George C. Young, and by her son, George C. Young, Jr. Survivors include her daughter, Barbara Young Smallback, son-in-law Bob Smallback, grandchildren Scott Smallback, Kelly Young and Kimberlee Young, and nephews Howard Hart and Barney Hart.