Florence (Kelly) Putnam
ENOSBURG FALLS: Florence (Kelly) Putnam, age 99, passed away peacefully on December 2, 2022, with her three grandchildren by her side, just as she had wished for her eternal nap. She was the loving daughter of Elmer and Ada (Ovitt) Kelly, born on March 6, 1923.
Florence was married to the love of her life, Fred Putnam, for 63 wonderful years, and resided in St. Albans until his passing in 2008 and then shortly after moved to Enosburg Falls.
She grew up on the family farm in Enosburg and after high school, she attended a nurse’s training program in Boston where she graduated in 1945. She continued her passion for taking care of others by working at Kerbs Hospital in St. Albans and then doing some private nursing later in her career.
Florence is remembered as a hard-working person who really enjoyed traveling with her husband and family. She would often enjoy garage sale-ing, going to auctions, camping, or just going for rides with her husband. They once made a special trip across the USA, up into Alaska and back a different route, dragging their little pop-up camper the whole way. One could always count on seeing her maintaining her beautiful flower gardens all around her home. Her favorite pastimes were sitting on her covered porch, or in Taylor Park, just taking in all the sights. She loved to walk. She had a favorite route she referred to as her “5-mile hike” and in later years she sped around in her walker that she referred to as her “horse”… still out and about walking around town.
Florence was very proud of the fact and made it known that she lived all on her own in later years with hardly any assistance, and the only medication she was currently taking was a single blood pressure pill right up to the crest of 100 years.
She lived through some hardships that others typically don’t endure. As a child through the Great Depression, she learned how to survive at a young age. She lost her mom due to a heart attack at just 11 years old and then her dad shortly after, at the age of 13, from an auto accident on the farm. She lost her husband just when they were starting to enjoy the golden years, shortly after she lost her only child to cancer, and then during the time of COVID, while stuck in her home with her favorite pet “Patches” she lost him also. She often mentioned how she outlived all of her friends. She was an only child and from a small family, so she figured out things on her own and how to be strong.
Florence is survived by her granddaughter Misty Leach of Jeffersonville and her partner Holly, her grandsons, Landon Bonk of Enosburg and his partner Adrea Parent, and Brian Bonk of Richford and his partner Suzanne Hunt; her son-in-law John Leach of Crossville, TN, and several great-grandchildren, Bella, Broden, Ayla, Arie, Madison, and Abby.
She was predeceased by her husband Fred, her daughter Darlene, and her special fur companion Patches.
Florence’s family wishes to extend their sincere appreciation for the care that she received, especially Mikayla Sullivan, the staff at Northwestern Medical Center Emergency Room, and the members of Enosburgh Ambulance.
There will an interment service, in the spring, in the Putnam family lot in St. Albans Bay Cemetery.
Arrangements are entrusted to the Brady & Levesque Funeral Home, where fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with her family and friends at: www.bradyandlevesque.com
