Florence Elizabeth Burley passed away Dec. 27 at her home at Schooner Cove, Damariscotta.
She was born in New York City, July 15, 1907, the child of Henry C. and Rosa Herning Schwenke, who both emigrated from Germany in the late 1800s. She grew up beside the East River in New York City and just across the street from her childhood playground was Gracie Mansion, home of the New York Mayors.
In 1929, she met Robert M. Burley, a recent graduate of Harvard, and they married on Jan. 4, 1934.
Her husband was a celebrated optical engineer, designer and astronomer. His work took them all around the country. They lived and raised a family of five in New Jersey, New Hampshire, Florida, California, and Long Island, finally settling down in Concord, Mass. in 1952, where they lived for 40 years.
During the many nomadic years, whether living in motels, having to send them to three different schools in a year, setting off alone with infant and toddlers on a thousand mile trek to an unfamiliar place, or taking them by train alone across the country more than once, she always made a happy and secure home for her children. Children were her greatest love.
She was an active member of the USO. An enemy airplane spotter during WWII, she apprehended a jewel thief on a rooftop in Florida.
She enjoyed painting, knitting, needlepoint, gardening, and especially reading. She loved art and theater and she and her husband, Bob, had a passion for ballet, making many trips to Boston and New York productions. Always, and right to the end, Florence had an appreciation of good food.
She moved to Damariscotta in 1993, having previously summered many years in Christmas Cove. She most recently enjoyed her 100th Christmas and was full of spirit and sharp of mind all through the holiday, enjoying visits from her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The wonderful ladies who helped her in the last few weeks came to be part of the family.
She was predeceased by her husband, Robert M. Burley, in 1990.
She is survived by her children, Michael P. and wife True Burley of Brookline, Mass., Sarah and husband James Birkett of Nobleboro, Belinda and husband David Dapice of Concord, Mass., Juliet Burley-Mason and husband Shipley Mason of Newburyport, Mass., and Thomas Cilley Burley of Billerica, Mass.; grandchildren, Sarah, Susannah and husband Steven, Alice, Benjamin and wife Julie, John and wife Sandra, Lucy and husband James, Joshua and wife Nancy, Jennie, Captain Robert and wife Juliana, Margaret, Gala and husband Morgan, and Charlotte and husband Lee; and great-grandchildren, Melissa, Amber, George, Conrad, Hannah, Fiona, Louise, Maya, and Maxwell.
She was laid to rest Dec. 30 in the Burley Family Cemetery in Epping, N.H.
Those who wish may make memorial contributions in her memory to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, 29 W. 38th St., 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018-2050 (website unicefusa.org, phone 1-800-486-4233).
Arrangements are entrusted to Strong Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 612 Main St., Damariscotta.