Miriam K. Flower

Miriam K. Flower celebrates her 100th birthday.

Miriam K. Flower, beloved mother and grandmother, “passed peacefully to heaven at Mountain Valley Hospice on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024,” her daughter wrote in a tribute. She was 101 years old.

“Everybody loved her,” her daughter, Cindy Flower-Dymes, said. “She was a social butterfly.”

Mrs. Flower was born in Mineola on Long Island. She settled in Bayville, also on Long Island, “to raise a family after marrying the love of her life, Henry C. Flower Sr.”

“She was a working mom,” said Ms. Flower-Dymes, naming some of her mother’s jobs: telephone operator, lunch lady, and secretary.

Raising her son and daughter, Mrs. Flower was active in Scouts and 4-H. Since her husband was a World War II veteran, she was also very active in the Bayville American Legion Auxiliary. And she volunteered to be a poll worker at election time.

Mrs. Flower loved being a grandmother. “My daughter was the apple of my mother’s eye,” said Ms. Flower-Dymes. “She was the only grandchild. They were very close.”

After Mrs. Flower’s husband died, she came to live with her daughter on Warners Lake Road. She then moved to an in-law apartment in her granddaughter’s home.

“She went to St. Lucy’s Church and enjoyed meeting people,” said her daughter.

“She was very active in the Altlamont Seniors and she loved to play canasta,” said Mrs. Flower-Dymes. The group of women she played cards with called themselves the Canasta Cats.

“Miriam loved the simple things: gardening, time at the beach and at parades, leaf-peeping, and watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune,” said her granddaughter, Amanda Allen.

Reflecting on her mother’s personality, Ms. Flower-Dymes said, “She had a great sense of humor. She always taught us to be humble and kind.”

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Miriam K. Flower is survived by her daughter, Cindy Flower-Dymes and her husband, Mike; her son, Henry C. Flower, and her granddaughter, Amanda Allen and her husband, Tim, as well as by several nieces and nephews.

Her husband, Henry C. Flower Sr., died before her, as did her sisters, Charlotte Miller and Ruth Ryeberg, and her brother, William Heagney.

She will be laid to rest next to her husband at Bayville Cemetery on Long Island.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Legion Auxiliary or the American Legion Auxiliary Foundation.

“A sincere and heartfelt thank you to her awesome aides, Mark, Heather, Kelly, Sherri, and Christina, who took excellent care of her while she was at home and to the Hospice Care for their warm and loving care while mom was there,” Mrs Flower-Dymes wrote in the tribute.

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