Flora Aise Schroeder, age 77, died Oct. 2, 2023 in her home surrounded by her loved ones.
Flora was born in 1946 in Naples, Italy. She grew up in a large family of eight kids and became a manicurist.
As fate would have it, she met an American Navy man, Martin Schroeder. Despite being unable to speak each other’s language, they fell in love and married. After much traveling stationed in various states, they made the Harbor their permanent home.
For a woman born in a big, noisy city, Grays Harbor looked like a place where Tarzan might fly through the trees at any moment. Flora quickly learned to read, write, and speak English by taking college classes and watching American soap operas until she realized they never ended and quickly dropped those shows. People were drawn to her vibrancy and warmth and authentic and inviting personality which quickly made friends into family. Food being the universal language of love and needing no translation, she became known for her pasta, bread and pizza, and always having plenty for anyone who showed up at the door. Her own children often wondered if their own friends actually came to see them or eat their mother’s food.
During her lifetime, she owned her own daycare and helped raise other people’s kids with liberal amounts of love, food and the occasional brandishing of the wooden spoon. The parents adored Flora but were maybe a little irritated when their kids would no longer eat their own spaghetti because it “didn’t taste like Flora’s.” When she retired from caring for children, she quickly became bored and started to take care of adults.
Her last client was a 6’7” former Hell’s Angel who was older than she was. He learned quickly there was no intimidating her and quickly grew to love her as all the rest of us had. At 4’11” she was a force to be reckoned with. She was strong, smart, blunt, willful, with a constant need to love, nurture, micro-manage, cook, clean and keep everyone happy.
But, most of all, she was always grateful. Even during hard times, she always looked forward and felt lucky for everything and everyone in her life. Missing her terribly are her husband of 55 years, Martin; her children, Sara and David; her grandchildren, Alex, Madison, Nathan, Ryan, Alana and Hope, and countless friends.
A celebration of life will be held at the Ocosta Rec Hall on Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. If you wish to come, you are welcome to bring your favorite memory to share or a dish in honor of Flora’s love of cooking, or perhaps a bottle of wine for a toast in her honor.
Her family wishes to express their condolences to everyone who didn’t have a mom as truly tremendous as ours. Really, you missed out. She was one of a kind.