Florence Ellen (Wood) Hach

FLORENCE ELLEN (WOOD) HACH

Eden. N.Y.

Florence Ellen (Wood) Hach, 78, died June 16, 2020, at South Buffalo Mercy Hospital, Buffalo, N.Y. Calling hours will be held at Cedar Memorial West Side Chapel on First Avenue West on Tuesday, June 23, 2020, from

5 to 7 p.m. A private funeral Mass will held at St. Jude Catholic Church with Father Mark Murphy presiding, followed by burial at Czech National Cemetery with full military honors.

Florence Ellen Wood was born in Marcellus, N.Y., on May 12, 1942. She married Allan Richard Hach on Nov. 6, 1971, at Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Ill. They renewed their vows as Roman Catholics at St. Malachy Church, Rantoul, Ill., in April 1984 before Father Stanley Malinowski.

She is survived by her husband, Allan R. Hach of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; daughter, Ellen Lynn (David) Gullo of Eden, N.Y.; grandchildren, Gabriel, Liam, Caleb and David Jr. of Eden, N.Y.; many beloved cousins and in-laws.

She was preceded in death by her parents, William James Wood and Augusta Hendrickson Wood.

Florence was the only surviving child of five children born to James and Augusta Wood. She grew up in Marcellus, N.Y., just outside of Syracuse, and worked at her family gas station and truck farm along with helping her father with his milk route.

She graduated from Marcellus High School in 1961 and enrolled in the Auburn Memorial Hospital's School of nursing, graduating in 1964. She graduated from Incarnate Word College in San Antonio, Texas, in 1970 with a B.S. in Nursing. She graduated with an M.S. in education, in community guidance and counseling, from Eastern Illinois University in 1974.

She joined the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps in April 1966. During her six years of duty, she spent 2 1/2 years working with thousands of Vietnam battle casualties in Japan. She was one of 19 Air Force nurses selected by the Air Force Institute of Technology to earn her Bachelor of Nursing degree. She earned and received her "flight nurse" wings. She has been listed in "Who's Who in American Nursing."

Assigned to Chanute AFB, Ill., she met and married her husband, Allan, a ballistic missile electronics technician. In 1972, she left the USAF Nurse Corps to have their daughter, Ellen Lynn, and began working for Dr. J.H. Hess in private practice in Rantoul.

In 1987, she returned to the Chanute AFB Hospital as a civil service nurse and retired from the Buffalo VA Hospital in 1998 with more than 20 years of federal service.

After 20 years in Rantoul, Ill., and 12 years in Marilla, N.Y., she returned to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with her husband. She Joined St. Jude Catholic Church and sang in the church choir for many years. She belonged to VFW Post 788 and American Legion Post 735 in Hiawatha, Iowa. She was a member of NARFE (National Association of Retired Federal Employees) Chapter 133 in Cedar Rapids and charter member of the Women's Service Memorial in Washington, D.C.

In 2016, she moved back to New York with her husband to be closer her grandchildren and family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society or Mercy Hospice.