OBIT: Anna FLOREK, 1946, Somerset, Somerset County, PA  

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Meyersdale Library.
Transcribed and proofread by: Richard Boyer.

Copyright 2007.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/somerset/
________________________________________________

ANNA FLOREK

Angel of Death Visits Somerset "County Home"
Most Lovable and Happy Inmate Now With the Angel Host

  A little, white radio and a baby bed-stand in the Somerset County Home, mute 
reminders of their owner, Anna Florek, 33, who died several days ago after 
spending 25 years of her life in the Somerset County Home.
  Anna, left mourners in both the Somerset State Hospital and the County Home; 
she was a patient in the former until 1941, and after that was removed to the 
adjoining building.
  She was but 30 inches long, having the body of a baby but the head of a mature 
individual.  Yet Anna could read newspapers and daily listened to her radio, 
kept abreast of world news.  She was the first to announce to attendants at the 
county home, the death of President Roosevelt, last April 12, having heard the 
broadcast.
  Anna's 33 years are a story of cheerfulness; a life filled with song and 
brightness.  She was always singing and had a strong voice for her tiny body.
  Attendants at the institution said when she was brought there 25 years ago, 
she was eight years old and had been a patient in the Windber Hospital, almost 
from the time of birth until her removal to Somerset.
  A brutal father, who wanted a baby boy instead of a girl, is said to have 
thrown the child out of a window when she was two days old, injuring her spine.  
When care could not be given her at home, she was removed to the Windber 
hospital, and in her tiny bed became a radiant little creature.  There she 
learned to talk and was a particular pet of the doctors and nurses.  Her parents 
disappeared from Windber, and nothing was ever heard of them again.  As far as 
anyone knew, Anna had no known relatives living in this part of the country.
  
Takes Interest

  As time passed and Anna grew older, she began to take an interest in the 
affairs of Somerset County Home and Hospital, and each night would be placed in 
her little baby bed, there to lie utterly helpless on her back until the 
following morning.
  Each morning, the little girl would be placed on a table before a window from 
where she could look out over the beautiful lawn of the institution, seeing cars 
roll by on the highway, and watching flowers bloom in summer and winter's snow 
swirl about the window which was always designated as hers.
  As she grew older, she wanted to know what reading and writing were, and many 
years ago, one of the older women of the institution undertook to teach her to 
read and write.  Older inmates had little time to devote to the small, helpless 
person lying on her window table, and soon Anna learned to read and write with 
out assistance.
  Mrs. C. I. Shaffer, wife of the superintendent of the state institution, used 
to take her little books about birds and flowers.  Those she read avidly and 
would be able to repeat them word for word.
  Then, a collection was taken up among nurses and doctors, to buy her a radio; 
with her little baby hands she learned to manipulate the dials, and could tune 
in on her favorite programs each day.

Enjoyed Programs

  Unable to move anything but her arms and head, Anna would lie by the hour, 
listening to programs, and soon the ward would be filled with her songs.  She 
learned to sing all her favorite tunes on the radio.
  Miss Elizabeth Ruthledge, superintendent of the old folks home where Anna had 
spent the last year of her life after the state appropriated the hospital, said 
the little girl was a lesson in cheerfulness.  She never complained, never asked 
for anything, and loved everybody.  She was the pet of the institution, and many 
tears were shed by nurses and attendants in both institutions when she died.
  One of Anna's daily occupations was reading the Somerset American.  During the 
war, she was able to tell the places of heavy fighting; the names of famous 
generals, and what the immediate war picture presented.
  Between the newspaper and the radio, Anna knew all that was going on, both in 
Somerset and the nation.  She knew who was being married, who had died and all 
things of interest in Somerset County.  She could discuss national affairs that 
might even stump a college student.
  Her big, brown eyes would shine when anyone came to talk with her and pat her 
short, light brown hair and tell her how pretty her face was.  Those who knew 
her well said her face was like that of a beautiful doll, with regular pretty 
features.

Songs Less Frequent

  About six months ago, Anna's songs became less frequent; nurses began to 
wonder what ailed her.  But she still didn't complain and, not until death 
neared was it learned she suffered a brain tumor.
  Before she died, Anna told those who loved her she didn't want to be buried in 
the potter's field, and Mrs. Elmer Pugh of Somerset, who has been an attendant 
at the institution for some months, told Anna, if she were to die, there would 
be a place on the Pugh family plot in Husband Cemetery where she could rest 
forever.
  Anna died in peace, knowing she would have a last resting place where grass 
was kept green and clipped in summer, and where someone might occasionally place 
a flower.
  She was placed in a white, baby casket, and careful hands of an undertaker 
placed it in the grave witnessed by no one but her Maker.

Meyersdale Republican, March 7, 1946