Florence (Delfino) Ward (1922 - 2019)

Born 25 Mar 1922 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Biography

BURIAL Massachusetts National Cemetery Bourne, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA

Obituary

Florence Ward (Flo), mother of Frank Ward of Williamsburg Road, passed away peacefully on April 15 at Linda Manor in Haydenville. She had just celebrated her 97th birthday. Florence Delfino was born March 25, 1922 in Lexington, MA, the seventh daughter of Italian immigrants. She suffered through the early loss of both parents and subsequent separation of the sisters who were adopted by various relatives.

At the age of 17, she eloped with Frank Ward. Their 71-year-long marriage was the central core of Flo’s life. They had two children, Dayle Hoxie, who predeceased Flo in 2016, and Frank. While working as a bank teller at the Bristol County Trust, she stymied a bank robbery. She chatted with the robber as she pressed the alarm and pretended to fumble with the money he demanded until the police could arrive. Flo and her husband Frank retired to Florida, but after his death in 2011, Flo returned to Massachusetts and lived with her son Frank in Ashfield until she moved to Linda Manor in 2017. She is survived by four grandchildren: Tobey Ward and Caleb Ward, both raised in Ashfield, and Shauna Hoxie Childs and Stephen Hoxie Jr., both of Cape Cod, six great-grandchildren, and by her elder sister Marie Delfino, who at the age of 102 still lives on her own near Boston. Flo will always be remembered for her lovely smile and calm demeanor.

Obituary

Sources

• Find A Grave: Memorial #199473168

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GMPS-X8T