Adams County History & Genealogy

Eulogy for Flora (Wilson) Foster, by her granddaughter Mary Davisson

Flora Ann Wilson, the only child of “Bert” and Alice Wilson, was born January 11, 1913 in Peebles, Ohio. She died June 27, 2004 in West Union, Ohio at the age of 91 years, 5 months and 16 days. She is survived by a daughter, Jean McCarty of Peebles, Ohio, sons Bill Foster of Greeneville, Ohio and Ted Foster of West Union, Ohio. She joins on the other side Merle Foster, her husband of 67 years and daughter “Tiny” Lewis. She is also survived by 9 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren.

It is a gift to be blessed with a wonderful family. A family that knows and lives out what is most important in life. I have been richly blessed with parents who loved one another and the Lord and lived with integrity and honor. I was also blessed with grandparents who loved the Lord and one another and shared a long life together. They taught my mother how to live, and she has taught me. The influence of Flora Foster will continue through me to my sons and their children and on through the ages as the Lord tarries.

She was a lifelong member of the Peebles Church of Christ, her first official affiliation evidenced by enrollment in the Cradle Roll on June 11, 1913. She was active in various avenues of service throughout her days. She was a founding member of the Ladies’ Circle and initiated the practice of sending encouragement to college students, which still continues.

She was honored as valedictorian of her graduating class at Peebles High School in 1931, an honor also achieved by daughter Jean in 1953 and grandson David in 1983.

In a world of instant fixes, when the most serious of troubles can be resolved in a single hour episode of a television show, where serial marriage is becoming the norm, examples of life-long loyalty are rare and valuable treasures, I have such a treasure in the memory of my grandparents.

Grandma met my grandfather in 1927, when she was 14 and he was 21. Penned under the inside flap of a letter from him dated March 23, 1928, are the following words, “I’ll bet a kiss you don’t find this, and if you do, I give you two.” They were married in 1931 following her high school graduation. She and Merle’s first home was an island in the Ohio River near Manchester. One of the other inhabitants was a pet ground hog. There were no other humans. When questioned about where they had gone on their honeymoon, her reply was, “Who needed a honeymoon on a 200 acre island with no neighbors?” There was a celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary held at the Peebles Church of Christ, and a celebration of their 60th anniversary at the home of their daughter Jean. She and Merle were honored as Old Timer’s Day Couple in 1986. They had been married 67 years at the time of Merle’s death in 1999.

In an age of commercialism, when the constant message is “I’m worth it”, whether it’s a hair color or a new car or a divorce from your spouse of 34 years, it is a rare and valuable gem to find someone living out the words of Paul in Philippians 4:11b-12 “…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” For most of her life, she lived with little material worth. Other than their time on the island, she and Merle shared their home with grandparents, parents, children or grandchildren. Until 1989, when Grandma won $5000 from the Cardinal Supermarket, they did not have indoor plumbing. In later years, they only had a working truck because of the generosity of loving friends. And yet I never heard a complaint from her lips about her circumstances. If Flora ever had a bad day, no one was the wiser. She was the most content individual I have known. But Flora was not just content; she lived life with a twinkle in her eye and her braids atop her head. She was truly happy each day to be alive. And now she is not just content with her lot, she is in joyous rapture at home with her Lord in the mansion he prepared for her.