Mother was an good cook. She knew mother cabrini who is now a Saint.

Vince: My grandmother and her 3 sisters were in the orphanage in hyde park for a couple years after their mother died and her father went to Michigan to work in the iron mines.

Brother has more information about geneology.

by Vincent Mazzie
Thank you for being here with us to honor Flo. She was a warm, loving, gentle women filled with spirit, strength and courage that she demonstrated many times over the past year. She came from a big family, 10 kids, the 3rd oldest of 6 girls and 4 boys. She spoke often of her mother and father, especially the last couple of years and growing up with a house full of people, she missed that very much.

Anytime we saw a motorcycle she would tell the story about her fathers Harley. He was tall handsome and had blue eyes. He would pick up her mother in the side card on Thompson Street. We can tell the story verbatim. Talk about the holidays and her mothers cooking and baking for days all the traditional Italian foods. Flo was a great cook too! She learned from her mom. I think Sandie and I had Sunday dinner with her and my father for the first 10 years of marriage. Ralph would call and ask what we were doing and say your mother is making lasagna or eggplant parm or roast beef. We would be there at 4 or 5 and it was always great. She was a great mother-in-law to Sandie who was like a daughter to her. They loved each other and she was heart broken when she died. She tried to console me as I tried to console her. She didn’t cook much the last couple of years but we would eat out or Peggy would cook at her house or mine 3 or 4 times a week and of course Flo would tell the same stories about her family, trips to Europe with Angie and Lorraine to visit relatives and family vacations at Lake George etc. She missed my father very much and would talk sometimes as though she expected him to walk through the door. She reminisced a lot about the good times with my fathers brothers and sister and their families. Ralph and Flo were married for 52 years.
She was very caring and only wanted the best for us. She was proud of our accomplishments. Before I got engaged to Peggy, I stopped by to see Flo to tell her what I had planned. She looked at me and smiled and said very lovingly that Peggy was a lovely girl, you get along well and you deserve to be happy and live your life again. She was a wise and thoughtful person. I felt good.

Flo worked at IBM for 35 years, starting in 1952 as a temp for 6 months. Her mother said why not, you could use the money and she would watch the kids during the day. She was proud of IBM and spoke often about how she wished she never retired because of the socialization and the interaction each day. She was a very social person. Everywhere we went she would strike up a conversation with someone in a restaurant, hotel lobby or in a store. Anytime she saw kids she would always smile and ask their name etc. She loved her nieces and nephews and their kids. She loved my nieces and loved seeing them at the lake or for the holidays. She would always have ten or twenties to give the kids for the holidays.

Because she worked and had 2 incomes it enabled my mother and father to give Ralphie and Me a wonderful childhood. Great birthday parties, every toy under the sun for Christmas and always a summer vacation. Starting in the early 50’s Lake George, Lake Champlain, Cape Cod, wildwood or Florida etc. and we have the movies to remember them by. Lake George was a favorite and still is. If we didn’t go there for our big vacation we would always go for a long weekend or two. Sometimes it would be labor day around my birthday. It made me feel special. Flo loved the lake and the last time she was there was in October around her birthday. Of course we heard the usual stories about everything we did as kids. Peggy made breakfast and Flo would point out every boat that went by. I think she ate a half pound of bacon that day. She would sneak a piece and then another. Bacon and salt wasn’t good for her but what can you do about it, it was her birthday.

Peggy loved Flo like a mother and Flo loved her. Flo would call her sweetheart, she was happy for us.

Flo had spirit and strength, she endured a lot this past year from the gout in August, pneumonia in November, a stoke in December, two months in rehab, a UIT in March that entered her bloodstream that was very bad and knocked her down. She never really regained her strength after that, but spent 9 weeks at home before the last hospitalization. She fought the whole way and on good days had that twinkle in her eye that gave us hope. She never liked being told what to do and the past year was no different. If she didn’t want to do something she didn’t do it period. She really did fight the whole way to overcome each problem but as we all know the body can only take so much. As a mother the last thing she would want was for us to be in pain and you could see pain in her eyes.

Peggy and I were with her the last 2 days of her life. Ralphie had left a little earlier and was coming back but she shut her eyes at 1:50 AM Sunday morning.

She had a deep faith in God and loved this church. The last time she attended mass her was November 20th with Al and Rose. But Father John saw her many times and offered his prayers and blessings. He was a great comfort to me as he was to her. Thank you Father.

The poem on the back of the card says it all. Flo (Mom) was in every respect a wonderful, caring, comforting and loving mother. I often said to Peggy, Flo would walk to the end of the earth for her sons and in some respect she did.

We will miss you and you will forever be in our hearts.
We Love You

Written by Amelia Mazzie

I would like to thank Vincent and Ralph for allowing me the honor of giving a eulogy to Aunt Florence.

These words are a tribute to a dear and loved aunt, who left to join her beloved husband Ralph. They were a most handsome and beautiful couple. Aunt Florence was a very Beautiful women, always impeccably dressed with a beautiful smile and always perfectly couffed hairdo. Aunt Flo would like that word!!

My memories are many, from our car trips as young children to adult trips to Lake George, Saratoga Track and oh could she pick those ponies! And we always needed to stop for her Lottery Tickets. I will never pass a ice cream parlor or chocolate store without thinking of HOT FUDGE and Aunt Flo --- or the many times we went to dinner and she just couldn’t decide what to have, but always knew what dessert to have and I always enjoyed sharing them with her.

The times spent together in Florida were most enjoyable all the years we gathered as family in Fort Pierce and the many evenings together at Aunt Angies house, smoking and drinking coffee into the night, those were the Mazzie times. She had a strong and loving relation with her family, the Giammattei’s, her brothers, Sister, nieces and nephews. I remember all the stories she told me that happened on Hasbrook Street in Newburgh. Those memories were wonderful days.

She is the last of an era for me and my cousins and now that she is gone she leaves me and Elaine the Senior members of the Mazzie Family for she was our last elder Aunt.

But her most prized possession and Greatest Creation was her wonderful sons Vincent and Ralph. She was so very proud of the both of them. They were her treasure, they were her boys. Beyond a doubt they were truly devoted to her and I applaud them for all that they did for her. She loved her two daughter-in-laws as her own daughters. She embraced fondly her future daughter-in-law.

My memories are great but I leave this thought to her sons. To all that behold Florence or Flo’s journey through life will be forever touched by her presence and all of her family and friends here today surly have their own fond memories.

Thank you my cousins

Thank you Aunt Flo for giving me them.

Eulogy by Timothy Barr

The Beauty of Death XIV by Khalil Gibran

Let me sleep, for my soul is intoxicated with love and 
Let me rest, for my spirit has had its bounty of days and nights; 

Let me rest in the arms of Slumber, for my open eyes are tired; 
Let the silver-stringed lyre quiver and soothe my spirit; 
Weave from the harp and lute a veil around my withering heart. 

Dry your tears, my friends, and raise your heads as the flowers 
Raise their crowns to greet the dawn. 
Come close and bid me farewell; touch my eyes with smiling lips. 

The songs of the waves and the hymns of the streams 
Are scattered, and the voices of the throngs reduced to silence; 
And I can hear naught but the music of Eternity 
In exact harmony with the spirit's desires. 
I am cloaked in full whiteness; 
I am in comfort; I am in peace. 
Shed not tears upon me, but sing of harvest and the winepress; 
Utter no sigh of agony, but draw upon my face with your 
Finger the symbol of Love and Joy. 
Disturb not the air's tranquility with chanting and requiems, 
But let your hearts sing with me the song of Eternal Life; 
Mourn me not with apparel of black, 
But dress in color and rejoice with me; 
Talk not of my departure with sighs in your hearts; close 
Your eyes and you will see me with you forevermore. 


The last line in this poem by Khalil Gibran mentions dressing in color. All of you who knew Aunt Florence know she was not a drab or colorless person. So my tie selection today was to honor Aunt Flo – I think she would have liked it.

Today I am so honored to have been asked to speak about my Aunt Florence – my godmother.

What can I possibly say today that you don’t know about my Aunt Florence to really give you a sense of who she was? One word kept coming back – Family. Aunt Flo was all about family. Her family. Our family. She was a good wife and mother, she was a good sister, sister in law, aunt and friend. We would all be fortunate to have the same said of us.

She always said “My Vinnie,”” My Ralphie.” I know it was to distinguish between the other Vinnie’s and Ralph’s in the family, but when Aunt Flo said it, there was love and pride behind it…My Vinnie, My Ralphie. And later in life she would talk about Sandy and Vinnie and Renee and Ralphie – at least that’s the way I remember hearing it – now adding her daughters in law to the family. You also saw that love everytime Ralphie played the piano or when Vinnie was recognized in the newspaper.

Last night as we looked at some of the photos from when Aunt Flo and the Giammattei sisters were younger and it occurred to me just how beautiful she was – rather stunning actually. And one thing she never spoke about was her age (and as a result Ralphie and Vinnie were also ageless so that you wouldn’t guess her age) – to her it was just a number – she didn’t live like an old person and refused to think of herself as such – she was young in mind and spirit.

And that’s how I’ll always remember her…She’ll always be Forever young. That’s how she’ll be in my mind. Elegant, beautiful and happy. Always…and I do mean always, well-coiffed and well –dressed. I don’t think I ever saw Aunt Flo look sloppy. Truly, elegant and stylish.

You know at Uncle Ralph’s funeral I told a story of one of my earliest memories at the Bronx Zoo and watching my balloon fly away– as you would expect, Aunt Flo was there too. She was Always an important part of our lives – always there.

My first visit to Fordham was with Aunt Flo – and now our oldest son will be going there in the Fall. I know I’ll be thinking of both Uncle Ralph and Aunt Florence.

She really Loved to travel – even if it was only for the day. Traveling and vacation – relaxing with family were a big part of what she enjoyed. Lake George, Florida, Atlantic City, Cape Cod, Europe, and the Cruises that she looked forward to that had become a tradition. I don’t think she cared where they were cruising to, it was just a great time to be together and enjoy her family.

Think about it, all of her favorite spots were near water – AC, Lake George, cruises. I remember her in the ocean at Cape Cod on a raft just floating in the surf for hours with my mother and brother. Ironically it was later in that vacation that we learned something we never knew – she couldn’t swim. Aunt Flo and my mother were in the hotel pool where the deep end begins and she started sliding into the deep end. She calmly and without panic began calling my mother while slipping below the surface. Thankfully everybody survived, but the point – she loved being in and near the water – so without fear or anxiety she chose to be there to enjoy the water and enjoy life.

And it was always fun to be in Aunt Florence’s company at a party or out to dinner. She would have loved that we were all here today but probably would have been uncomfortable that it was for her and she was the center of attention. She just really loved being out and being with people. Whatever she was eating at that time was her favorite thing. In fact she would tell us “you know I could live just on hot dogs and French fries.” Or some other food because she was content in the moment, enjoying whatever it was. I always thought that was a wonderful trait.

One last story, I remember going to a restaurant and all the way there Aunt Flo talked about the great steak they served there. So we all ordered and she was last and when it came to her, she ordered the lobster. She could be very persuasive.

As I was preparing these remembrances a song by Bob Dylan and later recorded by Rod Stewart kept going through my head and I’d like to conclude with a few of the lyrics:

May God bless and keep you always 
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others 
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars 
And climb on every rung
And in my heart you’ll always be
forever young.

Aunt Florence you’ll always be in our hearts and our memories of you will be forever young. We love you.