Florence Rita Hoertz

Rita was born on March 13, 1920 in West Springfield, MA and passed away on August 15, 2021 at the Fellowship Home at the Fairway in Sebring, FL.   She is the daughter of the late Ernest & Annie Williams.  She is preceded in death by two husbands Samuel J. Crowley and Raymond Hoertz, sisters Esther Simpson & Dorothea Williams and brother James E. Williams.  Rita is survived by her son Richard Crowley (Patricia) and step-son James M. Hoertz (Barbara) of Stuart, FL, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Rita graduated in the 1937 class of West Side High School, West Springfield, Mass.  She worked for Sears Personnel Department in Ft Lauderdale from 1950-1970.  Thereafter, she moved to Stuart, FL where she played tennis, volunteered for Meals on Wheels, taped books for the blind and was a member of the White Doves.  In 2004, she moved to Sebring, where she enjoyed playing bridge and attending social events at her residence in the Bluffs of Sebring.  She was a member of the Union Congregational Church.  She lived a happy, full life and asked she be remembered as stated by this poem.

AFTER GLOW

I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one,

I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when day is done.

I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,

Of happy times and laughing times and bring and sunny days.

I’d like the tears of those who grieve to dry before the sun

Of happy memories that I leave behind when day is done.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, Florida.

Arrangements entrusted to:

Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home

4001 Sebring Parkway

Sebring, FL 33870

Online condolences may be left at:

www.stephensonnelsonfh.com