Florence Marie Stucker

Florence Marie (Bowles) Stucker of Adel; after 93 years of life on earth, she is now with her soulmate Robert with whom she was married 76 years. She knows he’s singing in God’s Choir and wanted “to go now to join the audience”. Those of us who are still here are filled with memories of her love, her good cheer and humor and her unwavering moral support and acceptance. Some of us also find solace by wrapping ourselves in her beautiful handmade quilts and sweaters. Before departing, she called to mind the members of her large family, each of whom she loved unconditionally.

Florence was born May 12, 1929 in Rifle, Colorado, as the eldest child of Nellie and Nonie Bowles. As an infant, she and her parents moved to rural Ellis County, OK where she lived until she was married to Robert Stucker in Higgins, Texas the 17 th of January 1946. She was the matriarch of younger siblings Fern, Frances (deceased), Pat, Louise, Rita, Andy and Charles (deceased). Growing up on the farm, she often had roles caring for the younger children but also enjoyed school life. At the Bishop High School, she loved to play basketball, where it was the custom for a young lady to offer a Box Lunch for sale at a School Social to a potential boyfriend. The handsome soldier Robert, whom she had met in Higgins a few weeks before, competed for her Box Lunch and won. This ignited a romance that led to their marriage. Florence and Robert rented a 300 acre farm in Texas for three years. After working in other farm jobs and seismography (blowing up dynamite underground to find oil), in 1950, she and Robert began a 30- year journey which started in Guymon, OK and ended in Marshfield, WI. He was an operator of natural gas compressor stations. They retired in 1980.

Their only child Virgil Robert Stucker was born in 1952. During retirement Robert and Florence volunteered with their son, his wife Lis and their family in roles in nonprofit programs for people recovering from mental illness. First, at Gould Farm in MA, then Gateway Homes in VA and Rose Hill Center in MI. For 10 years, Robert and Florence actively helped to raise Lis and Virgil’s four children. For the last decades of life, they lived in Adel, Iowa, where they have enjoyed and benefited from fun times with the many members of Florence’s family.

Florence’s words to us at her death are, “I don’t want anyone to be sad because I plan on meeting all of you up in heaven. During life, I have loved being a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. I have enjoyed quilting, knitting, and crocheting and giving what I made to others. Playing games has been fun and I hope my siblings will remember me as “the leader of the pack”… I loved life with them even though I had to sometimes let them win some of the games. It was fun always to have our grandchildren come and sleep over night with us. I hope that when our grandchildren’s grandchildren sleep overnight with them that they, too, will give them some freedom, let them see and reach for the stars and be sent back home to live life with these guiding words: “Let your conscience be your guide.”

Florence died on March 11, 2023; her husband Robert died on February 27, 2022. She is survived by her son Virgil (Lis), four grandchildren Dominic (Esme), Christoph (Sarah), Heidi (Sutton), and Stephanie (Matthew) and nine great grandchildren Issabelle, Moira (S&M), Tiegen, Maddox (D&E), Olivia, Rebekah, Eliana (C&S), Cass and Frances (H&S). We also acknowledge devoted caregiver Mary Hinton who became like a granddaughter.

Memorial Donations may be made to the Adel United Methodist Church <https://adelumc.org/>  Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, March 18, 2023 at the United Methodist Church in Adel. Family will greet friends from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. at the church before the service. Burial will be at Oakdale Cemetery in Adel. Online condolences maybe left at www.caldwellparrish.com