Flora Blanche Bergstrome (nee Baldwin),
born Nov. 20, 1917 passed away July 5, 2012
at Eden Care Centre in Chilliwack.
Born in Adanac, Sask. Flora lived her life in Summerland from the age of seven. She is survived by her daughter Breen and son Scott (Moira), grandchildren Flora Robison, Shala and Jody (Woodland), Alana, Laura and Erik (Bergstrome), seven greatgrandchhildren, nieces and nephews Ida, Bill, Cheryl and Peggy Lee (Wellwood), Ivan Sayers and Garth Sherwood. Predeceased by daughter Johan (Woodland) and son Brant “Sonny”, sisters Peg Sherwood, Frankie Wellwood and Ruby Sayers. Flora was director of the Happyvale Sheltered Workshop in Penticton, president of the PTA for many years, and a courageous single mother obliged to raise four children on her own. A musical career began in church choirs at age ten, her clear soprano voice gracing Summerland Singers and Players productions of Gilbert and Sullivan from 1949 in “The Pirates of Penzance” to 1958 ending with the same opera. Flora and “Toots” Boothe arranged numerous song and dance routines as the “Flora-Laura Girls. She was a member of the cast for a replay of “The Pirates” lastly in 1971. President of the Summerland Singers and Players in 1967, she played an active role in the production and performance of the “Centennial Concert”. In 1981 she wrote Summerland’s 75th anniversary song “Our Town Summerland”. In 1982 her choir The Florian Singers performed her compositions at the Eighth Okanagan Festival of Religious Art, in 1985 she performed in “The Summerland Revue’ and sang her last leading role in the 1988 production of “Martha” by the Summerland Rainbow Singers. Until 2003 she performed with “The Summerland Fiddlers” and later “The Apple Chords” bringing old-time music to care centres, the Hospital and the Drop-In Centre. At 88 she moved to Chilliwack and continued bringing music to the elderly with “The Three Generations”, a trio with Breen and granddaughter Flora. Flora was a people person who opened her small home to everyone. She was courageous, had a strong sense of fun and a life-long interest in learning. Interment to take place at Canyon View Cemetery at a later date. Hansons’ ARBOR FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORIUM 250-494-3202