Floyd R. Lindsey

November 14, 1918 - February 5, 2015

Floyd R. Lindsey Papa February 5, 2015, at 2:35 in the afternoon Floyd R. Lindsey transcended life as we know it. It was 96 years, 2 months and 22 days since his birth on November 14, 1918. After my initial notification from my sister Kathleen and the barrage of text messages and phone calls, I went out for a walk to clear my head. It was a bright sunny afternoon here in Georgetown, SC, and several people were out on the street. Toward the end of my walk, I happened upon an elderly gentleman who spoke. We chatted a bit. He was from Winston-Salem, NC, and in town for a visit. He was enjoying the sunshine and the quaint street on which I live. I think because he wanted me to know his deep appreciation of the scene, he told me he had had heart surgery. That was followed by a declaration that I was/am very familiar with. “It seems that everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one seems to want to do what it takes to get there.” This man could not know and I did not tell him, but after 96 years Papa had committed to that choice. He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years and our mother Anna Marie Lannon, his oldest daughter Roberta Haskins, his oldest son David, and his youngest son Daniel. To which he would declare, “No parent should ever bury their child.” We - Sharon Arthur, Kathleen McDonald, Mark Lindsey, and Pauline Estabrook - are left to mourn them all. And yet, although he will be missed, it will be hard to find anything but celebration for a life so very well lived. He had 19 grandchildren, and many great - grandchildren along with nieces and nephews. The age range of these relatives is from 75 to a great - grandson born in December. He did love to be with family on big occasions and basked in the glow of the family tribute for his 95th birthday. He once said, “The one true benefit of living a long life is that you get to look back over time and see how things work out generally for the good.” Floyd was a decorated WWII Veteran and served in the Army Air Corps where he fought in a Bonsai attack on Saipan in 1944. He volunteered for a relief flight to Okinawa during a typhoon in 1945. He was also on Guam when the atomic bomb was delivered. Mom had a letter from that time that said, “Dear Ann; Love, Floyd” The rest had been deleted. For the Saipan battle he received a Bronze Star. This is significant in that it was not normally available to the Air Corpsmen. He was employed by IBM in Endicott, NY, before and after the war and retired from IBM in 1974 after 33 years. He then worked for the Post Office for 10 years and retired for good in 1985. He and Anna enjoyed 10 - plus years of travel and had friends all over the United States. He once said to me that these were the 10 best years of his life. He was a member of the American Legion Stider – Teskey Post 86 in Susquehanna, PA, from the end of WWII until his death. There were many things that he was proud of. One was his modest financial success. But the thing that he was proudest of was the property in Oakland Township, PA. He would tell the story of why he bought the property and always say, “I only paid 5,000 dollars for the place in 1948 and look at it today.” Lastly, I will pay tribute to the two things I found, indeed find, most endearing. The first is that if he reasoned to the point that something he was doing was fundamentally wrong or hurtful, he would find the strength to stop whatever it was and this by nothing but force of will. The second is that he was ever the champion of those less fortunate than himself. Woe betides the person that abused an unfortunate soul in the presence of Floyd R. Lindsey. The family will have a memorial service in the spring to celebrate Floyd’s life. A notification will be posted when the date for the service is decided.