Florence Thomas

Florence Thomas, 85, of Winterset died Thursday, October 11, 2012 at Winterset Care Center North in Winterset. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m. Monday, October 15 at the First United Methodist Church in Winterset. A visitation with family present will be held 4 to 7 p.m., Sunday, October 14 at Ochiltree Funeral Service. Burial will be in the Winterset Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Methodist Church, MCFEE (Madison County Foundation for Environmental Education) and/or a fund established to support horticultural scholarships for students. Florence Akin was born September 1, 1927 in Madison County, Iowa; the daughter of Ray and Edna (Trester) Akin. She graduated from Macksburg High School in 1944 and later married Jack M. Thomas on September 25, 1945 at the First Christian Church Parsonage in Winterset. Florence was a devoted farm wife helping to manage many activities on the farm where she and Jack raised their three children. She was especially fond of flower gardening and through the years became an avid horticulturalist. She was called upon by many groups in central Iowa and beyond to teach floral arranging and for many years entered flowers in county and state competitions and eventually became a floral judge at the Iowa State Fair, a responsibility she took seriously and greatly enjoyed. She enjoyed sharing her talents with young people via 4-H and many young brides adorned their wedding ceremonies and receptions with her floral creations. She also was very talented at cake decorating. Florence was a former member of the Wesley Chapel Church and current member of the First United Methodist Church in Winterset. She was also a member of the Current Topic Club, Antique Club, Friendly Neighbor Garden Club and Sunshine Garden Club. She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Jack Thomas of Winterset; her three children, Lillian Eivins (Marvin) of Macksburg; Steven Thomas (Janet) of Windsor, CO; Arnold Thomas (Debbie) of Sac City; sisters, Margaret Blair (Charles) of Macksburg, Corinne Eivins of Manitowac, WI; brother, Keith Aikin (Barbara) of Marshalltown; 7 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by three sisters-in-law, Donna Thomas of Murray, Ethel Jensen of St. Charles, IL and Shirley Bittenger of Winterset. She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Robert and Russel Aikin and a granddaughter, Stacey Thomas.