Florence DeLong, 85

Florence Lillian (Hanson) DeLong, 85, longtime resident of the Flathead Valley, suddenly but peacefully “joined the company of angels” on June 9, 2015.

Florence was born in White Earth, North Dakota, on November 5, 1929, to Rudolph A. and Emma B. (LaBar) Hanson. She was the third of ten children. While still a young girl, she and her family moved to the Flathead Valley, eventually settling in Whitefish in a house her father built. She graduated from Whitefish High School in 1948.

Widowed at the tender age of 24, Florence married Joe DeLong on June 2, 1958. They celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary the week before her death.

She is survived by her husband, Joe, and by her two daughters, Joanne DeLong Rodriguez and her husband Sergio of Sacramento, California, and Catherine Mathis of Roy, Utah, as well as by her granddaughter, Jessica Mathis. She is also survived by one brother, Claude Hanson of Palm Desert, California; one sister, Eileen Bredstrand of Kalispell, and dozens of nephews and nieces.

Florence was preceded in death by her first husband, Vernon Sindt; both of her parents; six brothers and one sister.

A celebration of life in Florence's honor will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.on Saturday, June 20, at the Lagoon Pavilion in Woodland Park. A lunch will be provided. Please join us and share your special memories of Mom.