Florence Gasdick

Florence Y. Gasdick passed away on Friday, May 15, 2020 in Fishers, Indiana at the age of 87. She was born on June 17, 1932, in Detroit Michigan, and was a proud Michigander.

Florence pursued a career in education, graduating from the University of Detroit in 1953 and receiving her master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1956. She positively impacted the lives of many students, teachers, and administrators with her wisdom, leadership, and dedicated support, first as a teacher in the Detroit Public schools and later as a teacher and a principal in the Ann Arbor school system.

An inveterate student of lifelong learning, she enjoyed an enduring passion for world-wide travels, and loved mid-century architecture, reading, cooking, and entertaining. Following her retirement in 1988, she devoted herself to volunteer work at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti and the Detroit Regional Dollars for Scholars program, of which she was a founding member and inaugural Spark Award recipient in 2019.

Florence was known for her quick wit, astute intelligence, and her practical, yet compassionate, spirit. She loved spending time with her family, her longtime friends, and those she held as family in her heart. She also took pride in tending to her architecturally significant home, built in 1969 and lovingly named Smiling Hill, and to maintaining its surrounding lush property.

Florence is survived by her sisters, Ilona Hellie and Teona Wright and their families; brother-in-law Terry Patterson; nephews Kevin Moss and Jason Patterson and family. She was preceded in death by her sister Mitzi Patterson of Rochester, MI.

Arrangements are with Indiana Funeral Care in Indianapolis. Donations in her memory may be made to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti, MI and the Detroit Regional Dollars for Scholars program (drdfs.org/get-involved/give/).