Aunt Florence Herrick

 This took longer to post than I planned... I will miss Aunt Florence being in Cascade.  She has always been there and was a favorite aunt.  When I went to write down why she is so great, I realized that I didn't really know too much about her but that didn't diminish my love for her.  She always had a smile on her face and a welcome.  The first picture reminded me that she also had a wonderful sense of humor.

 She studied to become a teacher.  She taught all ages, in a little one-room schoolhouse in round valley.  The schoolhouse pictured above and below.  Below also shows the house she lived in as a teacher.  My dad, her brother went to stay with her for a time, to help with wood for heating the school, etc.  One of my favorite stories was when a skunk moved in under the school.  And, if I remember right, Dad was supposed to get rid of it.  Being a boy, he had a good idea; at least it seemed smarter than going under the schoolhouse and dragging the varmint out.  He shot it.  They couldn't hold school for some time and he still had to crawl under and get the varmint out.

The picture below shows her sense of humor again.  She was showing off the coon skin cap on her mother-in-laws head. Viola.

 It takes a special person to live with your in-laws.  I don't think I ever knew Coit but I did know Viola.  Aunt Florence took care of her until she passed away.  She also took care of her mother towards the end of Ottie's life.  My favorite story there was that even when Grandma was confined to a wheelchair, she would go outside with a butcher knife and dig out dandelions.  That was the closest thing to complaining I had ever heard from Aunt Florence.  She said she had a hard enough time getting grass to grow, without big holes being dug in it.

 Here she is with her daughter Janice, and Mom (Lecia) with Dale would be my guess.

I was lucky to be the right age to be a flower girl and Janice's wedding.  I had a pink dress and little white lace gloves with the fingers cut off (I don't know what they are called) my only gloves that were for protection against cold or driving.  I still have the little dress.

Family photo.  Dorsey, Florence and Janice.

One of the things I remember about her was that she was always making something.  Well, many some things; like the hats up above.  Most of the items were made to sell at her church’s bazaar.  I still use a pot scrubber that she made; it is the very best.  I have at least one crocheted blanket from her, probably more.

 I loved that she always encouraged learning.  Above she was teaching how to find arrowheads.  Below she came huckleberry hunting with us.  She knew the best places and was always on the look out for berries.  I always listened to her stories about it too.  Like, the time she was busy picking away (she would pick gallons and gallons of berries) and heard a noise.  When she looked up there was a large bear looking at her.  She decided that that bear could have his berry patch.  Maybe that was what began my fear of bears.  If she backed down they must be very scary.  However, she did encourage Dick her son-in-law to go bear hunting.

Lecia Dawn and Julie are here in the left-hand corner, Larry (I think lying on the blanket) Karen standing beside the car, I (Kayleen) am sitting on top eating watermelon, Grandma Ottie, and Aunt Florence at the tailgate. 

 In 1975 she traveled to Hawaii with my parents and Julie.  Above is a perfect example of her smile.  The picture underneath is Aunt Florence boogie boarding.  Mom said she wouldn't go in the ocean, and wouldn't go in.  Then when they finally got her to give it a try she wouldn't come out.

 It reminded me that she didn't travel much at all.  She went to Kansas with Dad and Mom and a few places like that but all her travel was from books. 

 She did have fun though when she went.  Above she and Julie tried out the hula.

 Above is a picture of the big tree that was on the property. Julie's Jeremy is sitting there on the stump.

A couple of things I remember are that there was always a room full of old men living there. They would be sitting to the left of the entryway. I think they were hired hands for the most part that she took care of after they couldn't take care of themselves. (I may be wrong on that part) I know Uncle Dorsey would sit there and play books on tapes very loud as he lost his hearing and sight. We used to go down stairs and play pool.

I realized that she seldom left Cascade even to visit us. That was OK though because I loved the mountains, fishing, and camping and that is what we usually were doing when we stopped there going to and from.

The other thing that I am curious about is the old house. I think I got to go in once to see her butterfly collection. That was the only time though and that is a memory that I am not totally sure of. She would go in though and magically bring out a feather or some food from her extra refrigerator I believe. I have a picture of her “new” house. But I realized after seeing Coit and Viola sitting on the steps of the “new” house it wasn’t very new.

This picture shows that she did come down a few times.  Uncle Wesley, Janice, Florence and Dorsey are pictured above. 

Aunt Florence was always involved in a project.  She said that since winter was 9 months out of the year you have to have projects on hand.  I just remembered another story that she told about a ball of lightening coming in through the TV.  Scorched the rug but didn't start a fire.

Aunt Florence always tried to grow a garden.  That is the only thing I heard her say she was jealous of.  She would even wheel a tomato plant in and out of the shed to try and keep it from freezing. 

This final picture shows her the way I will always remember her.  Loving nature and busy, but always welcoming and happy to visit.  She is a lady worth emulating.  I just couldn’t put my finger on what or how she did what she did but I loved it and her.

I added Karen's letter telling about the funeral.  I hope that was OK Karen.  I found it interesting that you said the main things in just the right way. Thank you for going and sharing.

Hi all. Just thought I’d let you know that Jeremy, Tylene and boys drove Mom, me and Amanda to Aunt Florence’s funeral yesterday. Julie and Clint drove down from St Maries as well. Quite a drive for them, especially since they turned around and went home the same day! We got there way too early thinking the service was at 11am. When we drove past the church, the sign said, “Memorial Service for Florence Herrick, 1pm”. There was snow on the ground and the wind was freezing, so it was hard to find something to do for the little boys while we waited. We met up with Julie and Clint and at 12noon went back to the church where Janice and Dick and Frank were gathering with Linda, Susan and Bradley Herrick. There wasn’t a lot of visiting time, nor was it really the right time, but it was so good to see them. It’s good we were there early because the church filled up fast. Someone behind us commented, “See, I told you Florence’s service would be standing room only!”. We were over-dressed. Except for the two ladies who sang, Mom, Amanda and I were the only women in dresses. Tylene and Julie both apparently knew no one in Cascade ever dresses up. ;)

Anyway, the service itself was only 15 minutes long including two songs, “What a Friend I Have in Jesus” and “Mansion Over The Hilltop”. The pastor prayed, reviewed a few things about her life, talked a few minutes about needing to be a Christian in order to see our loved ones again, prayed again and that was that. He didn’t really tell many stories about Aunt Florence, but did tell about her love for serving in the church, love for knitting and crocheting, fishing in Clear Creek, and huckleberry picking. He mentioned that when he first started preaching in Cascade, her learned that everybody has their favorite huckleberry patch, but no one ever shares where those places are…ever! He also said he will always remember “sittin around the table” at the Herrick’s talking and laughing. (That is one of my favorite memories as well.) Oh, here are a couple of little things I almost forgot. He said they, members of the congregation, go on “tours” from time to time. At first they were only for the teenage kids, but Aunt Florence asked him if they could organize for the adults as well. He told her they would if she could get enough together for a bus load. When it came time to go there were still two seats left and she told him to watch as they drove and if he saw two ladies with suitcases standing along the road, to stop and pick them up. They got as far as New Meadows and sure enough, there they were, waiting for the bus to come by. Mom said Aunt Florence loved those tours, as she loved to travel. The other funny thing was that apparently Uncle Dorsey went on that first tour (to Calgary) and the pastor said, “I didn’t think Dorsey ever went ANYWHERE!”

One thing that was odd was when the pastor was naming the family; Florence and Dorsey, their daughter Janice and her husband Dick McCann, and their son Frank. There was no mention of Lecia K who died when she was 16. It could have just been an over-sight, but it made me sad. We went to the cemetery (“Alpha Cemetery”, Dale, and the service was at the Central Valley Baptist Church) back down the road toward Herrick’s, the pastor said a short prayer and we said good bye to everyone. Both Dorsey and Lecia K are buried there.

I was going to attach some photos of Aunt Florence to this email, but it will take me too long and it is getting late. I thought you might like to know a little about her funeral. I will miss her! So glad we know what we know! Love, Karen