Obituary: Floriene "Flo" LaVerne Tillemans

Floriene LaVerne Tillemans passed away peacefully Oct. 7, 2016, in Spokane, Washington, with three generations of family by her side.

Flo was born June 4, 1930, in Laurel, Montana, one of eleven children born to Bransford Palmer and Eva Mae Palmer. Floriene graduated from Dawson County High School in 1948.

At Dawson Community College, she met and married Arnold Johnson. Together they had three children Sandy, Larry and Jerry.

She moved to Havre, Montana, where she met and married Ray Tillemans and they added three more kids to their family: Stan, Nancy and Gloria. She raised all six of her children in Havre.

She started at Bear Paw Motors and worked at various other Havre businesses as a bookkeeper. Later she became a real estate agent and a broker. Moving to the west coast, she became a travel agent, which was the occupation she enjoyed the most.

She was actively involved with the Democratic Party and was chosen to be a delegate at the State Convention. Flo was also a member of, and past president of, the VFW women's auxiliary.

She enjoyed bowling for many years, playing cards with friends and trips to Beaver Creek Park. She loved to sew, do a variety of crafts and to do crochet for her children and grandchildren.

In her high school yearbook, it was said that Flo was "happy as a lark, busy as a bee, and true to her friends, as you can see." That statement truly turned out to be our Mom.

She is survived by all six children: Sandy (Jim) Cline of Arizona, Larry "L.J." (Maria) Johnson of Montana, Jerry "Butch" (Holly) Johnson of Alaska, Stan Tillemans of Washington, Nancy Tillemans of Washinton and Gloria Gregory of California. She had 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister, Shirley Jo Palmer of British Columbia and her brother, Ronnie Palmer of Nevada.

She was preceded in death by both parents and eight of her siblings.