Jacquelyn Simpson Stoner Floreen's Obituary
Jacquelyn Simpson Stoner Floreen died ever so peacefully, surrounded by family, on September 26, just four days shy of her 94th birthday. Born in Maysville, NC to Jeanne and Lester Simpson, she was the eldest of five and grew up in a farming community among generations of family who relied upon and cherished one another. Free to wander through fields and along the river’s edge as a young child, she had an eye for a good story and an imagination to make it even better. Her storytelling will be missed. Her early childhood taught her to respect nature as both treacherous (alligators!) and as a meeting place with the divine. At the age of 9, her family moved to the nearby town of Jacksonville, just as WWII broke out abroad. The Marine base of Camp Lejeune was soon built nearby and its presence shaped much of her teen years. The government had requisitioned building materials, so the family lived in a tobacco barn, but they nonetheless supported young marines by hosting them at home and, as she remembered so brightly, by dancing with them at the USO. She could still jitterbug at 90! Jacquelyn married one of those marines, Robert Stoner, and together they reared three grateful children, Gary (Namped Triratanakul), Suzanne (Elliott West) and Brian (Pietro Cecchi). The family moved from North Carolina to Pittsburgh, Detroit, Boston, Fayetteville, and Southern California. After their divorce, Jacquelyn returned to Chapel Hill where she really hit her stride, discovering gifts for healing and a career in massage therapy. In 1985 she married David Floreen and they sailed and traveled and laughed and loved one another until his death in 2000. She continued to pursue professional development and was recognized for her volunteer work at Duke Hospital and elsewhere. After moving to Fayetteville to be near her daughter, she found great satisfaction in volunteering at the Caring Friends Respite Ministry at her church. Her quirky, dry, sometimes unintentional sense of humor will be missed. She had us laughing to tears in her last weeks even as we knew those tears would soon turn to sorrow.
Her fierce independence was well supported by caregivers who became dear friends, alongside the many others who kept up with her through the church and long-standing friendships. They are too numerous to mention but the family wants to thank them deeply for their companionship and love. The family also thanks the caregivers and nurses at Ciel Memory Care and the Willard Walker Hospice House for their extraordinary support. And special thanks to the Rev. Evan Garner and the Rev. Sara Milford for their prayers and presence, along with the entire pastoral care ministry at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Jacquelyn was predeceased by her beloved husband David, her parents, her siblings Lester “Buddy” Simpson, Madelyn Lowery, Carolyn Brooks, and Barbara Drash and granddaughter Elizabeth West. She is survived by her children and by her grandchildren Bill (Laura) West, Richard West, Garth West, and Anne West (Danny McGeough); great-grandchildren Will, Noah (Hannah) and London West, Jodie Riley, Christin (Chris) Vaskas; great-great grandchildren Kenneth and Juliette Riley and Kate Vaskas.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Monday, September 30 at St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 224 N. East Ave., Fayetteville, Arkansas with a reception to follow. Interment will be at a later date in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Memorial contributions in her name may be made to St Paul’s Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702 or to the Willard Walker Hospice House, P. O. Box 356, Fayetteville, AR 72702.
Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Moore’s Chapel in Fayetteville.
To place an online tribute, please visit www.bernafuneralhomes.com
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