Obit: Florence, George H. Sr. (1887 - 1963)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon

Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Florence, Berge, Schaefer, Dinler, Guenther, Vandenberg, Furstenberg, Loring, Sherman

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI.) March 28, 1963

Florence, George H. Sr. (23 June 1887 - 24 March 1963)

Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon for George H. Florence, Sr., 75, of Rt. 1 Pittsville, who died Sunday at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Madison.  He had been a patient there for 10 months.

Services were held from the Hanson Funeral Home in Marshfield, with the Rev. Willard Sherman of Pittsville officiating.  Military rites were conducted at the graveside in the Town of Sherwood Cemetery.

Mr. Florence was born June 23, 1887, in Nasonville and attended the school there and at the University of Wisconsin.  In his early years he was a foeman for a milk company in Illinois.

He was married to the former Rose Berge on May 21, 1919, in Milwaukee.  He was the assessor for the Town of Sherwood at the time of his death. 

Mr. Florence was a member of the Congregational Church of Pittsville, and of the American Legion. He served as past master of the Pittsville Lodge No. 222, Free and Accepted Masons; was high priest of the Marshfield Chapter, No. 78, Royal Arch Masons; served as past master of Marshfield Council, No. 39, Royal and Selected Masons, and was a member of Zor Shrine Temple; and of the Neillsville Commandery, No. 36 Knights Templer.

He also was a member of the Eau Claire Scottish Rite Consistory; a member of the Goldenrod Chapter, No. 260, of the O. E. S. in Pittsville; a member of the Mt. Olive Shrine of the White Shrine of Jerusalem of Wisconsin Rapids; and of the Central Wisconsin Scottish Rite Club and the Central Wisconsin Shrine Club.

He is survived by his wife and the following children; Mrs. Everest (Martha) Schaefer of Oregon, Ill.; Mrs. Gerald (Betty Ann) Dinler, Readfield; Mrs. Thomas (Rose Marie) Guenther of Novato, Cal.; George, Jr., of Pittsville; and Charles B. of Loyal; also three brothers, Harry of Eau Claire, Joseph of Auburndale, and Mitchell of Lindsey; two sisters, Mrs. Arthur (Julia) Vandenberg of San Diego, Cal., and Mrs. Arzelia Furstenberg of Appleton; a half-sister, Mrs. Harriet Loring of Billings, Mont.; 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem held a service at the funeral home, followed by a Masonic service conducted by Pittsville Lodge, No. 222.