Here are some memories provided by Jim Harris and Betty Struckhoff, of Carlyle Lake...
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| Photo from the 19921Midwinters,
Front: Ted Glass, Florence Glass (notice the pearls!), Barry Moore, Alison Woodworth
Back: Joe Gerrity, Ron Berkel, John Woodworth, Lynn Cook, E. Paul Moore, Bernie Knight, Marilyn Gerrity, Jim Harris
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It was June when Betty and I had our last visit with
Florence. She was in a nursing home,
bedridden, with a broken leg that she knew would never heal. When we called she suggested we come at happy
hour. We offered to bring a bottle of
wine. When we arrived, she had arranged
for another friend to put out a spread for us – wine, cheese, crackers, ripe
fruit, dips. That was Florence! We talked about Ted, sailing, classical music,
opera, traveling. She explained how she
and Ted were so successful at planing with the Scot on a reach without a
spinnaker. She was as sharp as
ever. It is a day we will always
remember, being with a very classy woman.
Florence had a full, long, remarkable life:
·
She was an avid sailor, crewing for Ted on their
Scot. We remember her hiked out straight
as an arrow, every hair in place. Then there was the time she threw the
spinnaker pole overboard in a disagreement – Betty always says sailboat racing
is the test of a marriage. It was late
in their sailing career that they came back from a regatta in Dallas with their
mainsail muddied from capsizing in the shallow lake. Another Fleet 83 member remembers sailing
with them on Lake Erie. Long time Carlyle
Sailing Association member (and new Flying Scot owner!) Andrea Sepanski shared
a memory on Facebook:
What
a wonderful, classy inspirational lady!!! I remember one Sunday working RC and
pulling her out of the lake after she had fallen off the boat, and she didn't
let it her faze her one bit. We took her
back over to the boat and she jumped from the whaler back into the boat with
Ted. I remember pulling away thinking, I want to grow up and be like her...
Heaven gained an awesome lady!
·
Florence knew how
to party and yet remain a proper southern lady.
When the Glow in the Dark regatta at Clinton Lake awarded a party
trophy, most winners were camping at the club – because they were in no shape
to drive anywhere. Florence won it on
her terms – treating everyone to Mint Juleps and leading the campfire songs
with a kazoo! Just a few years ago, she
was spotted on the back of a flatbed truck in a parade in her hometown of Mt.
Vernon, Illinois, supporting a local candidate for sheriff.
·
Ted and Florence were big supporters of
FSSA. Ted served as President. Together they donated the True Love trophy
recognizing the highest placing boat at the NAC's with husband and wife on
board.
·
Beyond sailing, Florence had deep and abiding
interests. She traveled the world to
watch birds. An opera lover, she traveled to Europe for opera. She was a supporter of St. Louis' Opera
Theater and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Perhaps her major philanthropic patronage went to the Cedarhurst Center
for the Arts in Mt. Vernon (http://www.cedarhurst.org/). If you are in the area, it is well worth a
visit.
·
Over the past few years, Betty and I loved
visiting Florence in Mt. Vernon. When
she still lived in her home we would pick her up and she would insist on
treating us to lunch at the best restaurant in town. After that we'd stop by Cedarhurst to see
what was on display. Usually the
director gave us a private tour.
Everyone knew and loved Florence.
We felt like we were escorting the Queen of England!
Now she is gone but her spirit lives on in all of us who
knew her. In recent comments about her,
two words come up repeatedly:
“inspirational” and “lady”.
Florence showed us what a good life looks like. We will always miss her. No, not England, Florence was the Queen of Scots!
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