Florimal W. Palumbo, 91, Named Miss Oak Bluffs

Florimal W. Palumbo, born in 1913, beloved mother of Leora Long and Margot Abry of Florida and Stephen Luders of Connecticut (deceased in 1966), was a frequent visitor to the Island since her youth. Florimal, known for her beauty and charm, graduated from Medford High School in 1932, where she was voted most admired girl and then, soon after, was named Miss Oak Bluffs at the Tivoli dances.

She met her first husband, Henry Luders, on the Vineyard and they were married at the church in the Camp Ground in 1934. Her in laws' family had a summer house near the park in Oak Bluffs.

Her father, William Wagner, who was known as the dean of Boston photographers, also had a photo shop on Circuit avenue, open in the summer, for many years. She became an inspired and generous artist in her own right, painting in oils.

A fun-loving resident of Florida for 26 years, where she retired with her husband, Wilbur F. Palumbo (deceased in 1996), she never heard a joke she didn't like.

Also affectionately known as Flotte, and later Flossie, she died peacefully at 91 years on Sunday at the new Jay Robert Lauer Hospice Unit at JFK hospital in Atlantis, Fla. She will be buried in Medford, her birthplace.

A memorial service will be held at Del Lago Chapel, 131 South Lakeside Drive in Lake Worth, Fla. at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 29. Contributions in Florimal's name may be sent to Hospice of Palm Beach County, Inc.