Florence Yount

Florence was born in Kansas City on July 13, 1914, to Hattie and Ralph Ripley. She nurtured what was to become a lifelong passion for dancing as she and her elder sister Winifred studied dance and went on to be instructors as teenagers. The family moved briefly to Omaha, returning for Florence’s senior year at Central High, where she graduated in 1931. Florence’s dream of a career as a professional dancer was dashed as her mother and grandmother held that "nice girls don’t go on the stage." Instead, she took advantage of a scholarship to Kansas City Teacher’s College. At 18 she married her high school sweetheart, Byron Walters, and moved to Lawrence, Kan., where she was a Phi Beta Kappa and received both a B.A. in English and B.S. in Microbiology. Following graduation she and Byron moved to Kansas City, where he attended medical school at the KU Medical Center and where she started a career as a medical technologist. Her first son Bill Walters was born in 1940. Her marriage was a casualty of separation during WW II. Florence moved to Prairie Village, Kan., and returned to work at KUMC. She became a charter member of the Village Presbyterian Church and met her second husband, Harry Moore. They became the first couple married by Dr. Bob Meneilly at the church in 1947. They had a daughter, Marti Moore, in 1949 and shortly thereafter moved to Sabetha, Kan. While residing there in 1953 she gave birth to a son, Bob Moore. The family returned to the Kansas City area in 1955, building a home at Lake Quivira, where Florence continued to reside for 45 years. She returned to work in at KUMC in the clinical laboratories in 1959, where she remained until her retirement in 1980. Her husband Harry preceded her in death in 1964. She met Raymond Yount, appropriately, at a dance and they were married in 1971. They were together 32 years, until Ray’s death in 2003. Through his TWA travel benefits they were able to travel the world. They also enjoyed square dancing and acting with the Senior Barn Players. Most of all, they enjoyed being grandparents to the children of Florence’s three and Ray’s five children: Jerry Yount, Jody Puetz, Tom Yount, Patty Titmus and Janet Miller. Florence is remembered for her kindness, generosity and her love of life. Even in her 90s, confined to a wheelchair, she loved to dance. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, wife, co-worker and friend. She left us on April 18th, cared for with much kindness by the staff of Lakeview Village in Lenexa, Kan., and surrounded by her children. Cremation will be followed by a memorial service at Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Florence Yount Dance Scholarship Fund at Operation Breakthrough, PO Box 412482, Kansas City, MO 64141. This will allow inner-city youth, who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity, to pursue their and Florence’s love of dance.

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