Florence Ranken

Florence Leona (Finger) Ranken (3/26/25 – 10/27/21)

On Wednesday October 27, 2021 Florence Leona Ranken, loving mother of Ellen, Susan and Frank passed away peacefully in her home, at the age of 96.  Flo was born March 26, 1925 and grew up with her parents Francis and Sarah Finger in Farmingdale NY with two brothers Francis and William.  After high school, she met and later married devoted husband and partner in life, of almost 74 years John F. Ranken who predeceased her in February.

Together they loved traveling to upstate NY and VT with friends on skiing trips and in 1961 moved to Vermont with their children, bought ‘Three Penny Lodge’ and started a ski lodge getaway for skiers in S. Newfane, building a wonderful life together.  Flo was a devoted mother, but she also was an incredibly talented seamstress who once worked for Stretch & Sew and would go on to have her own business of upholstery and drapery.  Florence and John were both very active in the Brattleboro chapter of the Lions Club.

In the mid 1980’s they moved to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to enjoy their later years, settling on building a house right up against the Lyndon and Wheelock town lines.  Flo had an eye for natural beauty, which she loved to capture in her watercolor painting.  Her love of nature was expressed in creating beautiful flower gardens that she would spend hours admiring from a bench that John made her.  She loved cooking and baking, often enlisting her son-in-law John to be her #1 taste tester; theirs was a very special relationship that they both enjoyed, right up until the end.  For thirty years, Flo and her daughter Ellen spent almost every day together going for walks, x-country skiing, trudges every day out to the mailbox and back no matter the weather.  Their friendship and support of each other was unmatched.

Flo loved traveling to the Maine coast, visiting and staying with daughter Susan and her husband Peter, feeling the salty air and the splash of the waves when they would go out sailing on their sailboats or relaxing on the shore.  Being on the ocean with boats was special to Flo, John and their children.

Over the years, Flo and John traveled to Florida a few times to visit son Frank and his wife Dawne and their son Jayson.  Although far apart, they were proud of their son who lived so far away.

Florence is survived by her daughter Susan and husband Peter McBean, son Frank and wife Dawne Ranken, daughter Ellen and husband John E. Gould, granddaughter Jennifer, grandson John D. and wife Andrea Gould with children Sage, Haleigh and Ashton Gould, Noah and Cameron Murray.  Special thanks go out to her caring staff of private home health providers, and the Hospice Program.  Their services allowed her to spend her last days in the comfort of her own home, where she was happiest.  There will be no public services at this time.  Donations can be made to the Lyndon Meal Site in her and husband John’s honor; this is an organization that they were a part of for years, delivering meals to those in need and then receiving benefit from, in these last few years.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.guibordfh.com