DAYTONA BEACH, FL — Lilla (Connors) Kersey Raffa, 78, of Deltona, FL, died Friday, December 2, 2005 at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, FL after a long, courageous battle with Alzheimer's disease and kidney failure.
Lilla was born April 1, 1927 in a house on Giles Place overlooking Boothbay Harbor, ME, the daughter of Grover A. Connors, Sr. and Leta Giles Connors. Daughter of a lobster fisherman/ lighthouse keeper, Lilla lived at the Ram Island lighthouse as a young girl. She loved to pick blueberries and paint balsam pillows to sell to tourists. She was a member of the first class to attend Brunswick High School on Spring Street from where her daughter, Katrina, graduated 34 years later.
Lilla met James O. Kersey while he was stationed at BNAS and they both worked at Mike's Place. They were married at the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church on June 26, 1959, relocating to his home state of Illinois two years later.
Her family was her career with occasional jobs as a waitress at the International House of Pancakes and the Brunswick Howard Johnsons, where she loved meeting and talking to people. She raised three girls and a boy, serving as a school room mother several times, and was a PTA officer. She once transported her youngest to church on a bicycle to receive her personal bible when the family car wasn't available. Lilla returned to Maine in 1972 where her husband worked at BIW until his death in 1979. A cancer survivor herself, Lilla cared for her cancer-stricken mother at home until she died in 1976. An avid swimmer since her high school swim team days, she spent every available weekend with her family at the beach. She loved gardening and preserving the fruits of her labor by canning piccalilli, pickles, and applesauce every Fall while listening to her favorites, Engelbert Humperdinck and the Irish Rovers. She loved celebrating holidays, especially Christmas, decorating every inch of the house and baking dozens of cookies.
As a member of the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church, she helped host spaghetti suppers and sold homemade countdown- to- Christmas candy ribbons at the Christmas fairs. She raised money for charities and coordinated winter storm rescues as a member of the Coastal Maine Citizens Band Club and the Channel Five Helping Hand Club in the 1970s. She also won the High Score trophy while leading her team to first place in the Channel 5 Candlepin Bowling League.
After caring for her husband until his death, Lilla relocated to Orlando, FL, where she met, then married George J. Raffa. They enjoyed traveling around the country before retiring to Deltona, FL. He died days after she was admitted to Manor on the Green in Daytona Beach in 2003, where she resided until her death.Lilla loved life with a passion, good times or bad. She enjoyed gardening and sitting in the sun while watching finches, cardinals, and mourning doves nesting in her trees while butterflies fluttered among her flowers. Purple was her favorite color and she wore it often, especially on trips to the malls to shop and people-watch. Reading Agatha Christie mysteries and doing crossword puzzles kept her sharp until the disease took those abilities away. In her early days in Florida, she went to the beach early in the morning and danced to Tina Turner's Proud Mary and the Village People at night.
Survivors include three daughters, Katrina Kersey and Bonnie Arnett of Orlando, FL, Andrea Theobald of Illinois; a son, Jon Kersey of Urbana, IL; a sister, Cynthia Sairio of Durham, ME; and two brothers, Grover A. Connors, Jr. of Topsham, ME, and Patrick Connors of Brunswick, ME. She also had eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. A graveside service and burial took place at Oaklawn Park Cemetery in Sanford, FL on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005.
Lilla was born April 1, 1927 in a house on Giles Place overlooking Boothbay Harbor, ME, the daughter of Grover A. Connors, Sr. and Leta Giles Connors. Daughter of a lobster fisherman/ lighthouse keeper, Lilla lived at the Ram Island lighthouse as a young girl. She loved to pick blueberries and paint balsam pillows to sell to tourists. She was a member of the first class to attend Brunswick High School on Spring Street from where her daughter, Katrina, graduated 34 years later.
Lilla met James O. Kersey while he was stationed at BNAS and they both worked at Mike's Place. They were married at the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church on June 26, 1959, relocating to his home state of Illinois two years later.
Her family was her career with occasional jobs as a waitress at the International House of Pancakes and the Brunswick Howard Johnsons, where she loved meeting and talking to people. She raised three girls and a boy, serving as a school room mother several times, and was a PTA officer. She once transported her youngest to church on a bicycle to receive her personal bible when the family car wasn't available. Lilla returned to Maine in 1972 where her husband worked at BIW until his death in 1979. A cancer survivor herself, Lilla cared for her cancer-stricken mother at home until she died in 1976. An avid swimmer since her high school swim team days, she spent every available weekend with her family at the beach. She loved gardening and preserving the fruits of her labor by canning piccalilli, pickles, and applesauce every Fall while listening to her favorites, Engelbert Humperdinck and the Irish Rovers. She loved celebrating holidays, especially Christmas, decorating every inch of the house and baking dozens of cookies.
As a member of the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church, she helped host spaghetti suppers and sold homemade countdown- to- Christmas candy ribbons at the Christmas fairs. She raised money for charities and coordinated winter storm rescues as a member of the Coastal Maine Citizens Band Club and the Channel Five Helping Hand Club in the 1970s. She also won the High Score trophy while leading her team to first place in the Channel 5 Candlepin Bowling League.
After caring for her husband until his death, Lilla relocated to Orlando, FL, where she met, then married George J. Raffa. They enjoyed traveling around the country before retiring to Deltona, FL. He died days after she was admitted to Manor on the Green in Daytona Beach in 2003, where she resided until her death.Lilla loved life with a passion, good times or bad. She enjoyed gardening and sitting in the sun while watching finches, cardinals, and mourning doves nesting in her trees while butterflies fluttered among her flowers. Purple was her favorite color and she wore it often, especially on trips to the malls to shop and people-watch. Reading Agatha Christie mysteries and doing crossword puzzles kept her sharp until the disease took those abilities away. In her early days in Florida, she went to the beach early in the morning and danced to Tina Turner's Proud Mary and the Village People at night.
Survivors include three daughters, Katrina Kersey and Bonnie Arnett of Orlando, FL, Andrea Theobald of Illinois; a son, Jon Kersey of Urbana, IL; a sister, Cynthia Sairio of Durham, ME; and two brothers, Grover A. Connors, Jr. of Topsham, ME, and Patrick Connors of Brunswick, ME. She also had eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. A graveside service and burial took place at Oaklawn Park Cemetery in Sanford, FL on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005.
DAYTONA BEACH, FL — Lilla (Connors) Kersey Raffa, 78, of Deltona, FL, died Friday, December 2, 2005 at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, FL after a long, courageous battle with Alzheimer's disease and kidney failure.
Lilla was born April 1, 1927 in a house on Giles Place overlooking Boothbay Harbor, ME, the daughter of Grover A. Connors, Sr. and Leta Giles Connors. Daughter of a lobster fisherman/ lighthouse keeper, Lilla lived at the Ram Island lighthouse as a young girl. She loved to pick blueberries and paint balsam pillows to sell to tourists. She was a member of the first class to attend Brunswick High School on Spring Street from where her daughter, Katrina, graduated 34 years later.
Lilla met James O. Kersey while he was stationed at BNAS and they both worked at Mike's Place. They were married at the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church on June 26, 1959, relocating to his home state of Illinois two years later.
Her family was her career with occasional jobs as a waitress at the International House of Pancakes and the Brunswick Howard Johnsons, where she loved meeting and talking to people. She raised three girls and a boy, serving as a school room mother several times, and was a PTA officer. She once transported her youngest to church on a bicycle to receive her personal bible when the family car wasn't available. Lilla returned to Maine in 1972 where her husband worked at BIW until his death in 1979. A cancer survivor herself, Lilla cared for her cancer-stricken mother at home until she died in 1976. An avid swimmer since her high school swim team days, she spent every available weekend with her family at the beach. She loved gardening and preserving the fruits of her labor by canning piccalilli, pickles, and applesauce every Fall while listening to her favorites, Engelbert Humperdinck and the Irish Rovers. She loved celebrating holidays, especially Christmas, decorating every inch of the house and baking dozens of cookies.
As a member of the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church, she helped host spaghetti suppers and sold homemade countdown- to- Christmas candy ribbons at the Christmas fairs. She raised money for charities and coordinated winter storm rescues as a member of the Coastal Maine Citizens Band Club and the Channel Five Helping Hand Club in the 1970s. She also won the High Score trophy while leading her team to first place in the Channel 5 Candlepin Bowling League.
After caring for her husband until his death, Lilla relocated to Orlando, FL, where she met, then married George J. Raffa. They enjoyed traveling around the country before retiring to Deltona, FL. He died days after she was admitted to Manor on the Green in Daytona Beach in 2003, where she resided until her death.Lilla loved life with a passion, good times or bad. She enjoyed gardening and sitting in the sun while watching finches, cardinals, and mourning doves nesting in her trees while butterflies fluttered among her flowers. Purple was her favorite color and she wore it often, especially on trips to the malls to shop and people-watch. Reading Agatha Christie mysteries and doing crossword puzzles kept her sharp until the disease took those abilities away. In her early days in Florida, she went to the beach early in the morning and danced to Tina Turner's Proud Mary and the Village People at night.
Survivors include three daughters, Katrina Kersey and Bonnie Arnett of Orlando, FL, Andrea Theobald of Illinois; a son, Jon Kersey of Urbana, IL; a sister, Cynthia Sairio of Durham, ME; and two brothers, Grover A. Connors, Jr. of Topsham, ME, and Patrick Connors of Brunswick, ME. She also had eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. A graveside service and burial took place at Oaklawn Park Cemetery in Sanford, FL on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005.
Lilla was born April 1, 1927 in a house on Giles Place overlooking Boothbay Harbor, ME, the daughter of Grover A. Connors, Sr. and Leta Giles Connors. Daughter of a lobster fisherman/ lighthouse keeper, Lilla lived at the Ram Island lighthouse as a young girl. She loved to pick blueberries and paint balsam pillows to sell to tourists. She was a member of the first class to attend Brunswick High School on Spring Street from where her daughter, Katrina, graduated 34 years later.
Lilla met James O. Kersey while he was stationed at BNAS and they both worked at Mike's Place. They were married at the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church on June 26, 1959, relocating to his home state of Illinois two years later.
Her family was her career with occasional jobs as a waitress at the International House of Pancakes and the Brunswick Howard Johnsons, where she loved meeting and talking to people. She raised three girls and a boy, serving as a school room mother several times, and was a PTA officer. She once transported her youngest to church on a bicycle to receive her personal bible when the family car wasn't available. Lilla returned to Maine in 1972 where her husband worked at BIW until his death in 1979. A cancer survivor herself, Lilla cared for her cancer-stricken mother at home until she died in 1976. An avid swimmer since her high school swim team days, she spent every available weekend with her family at the beach. She loved gardening and preserving the fruits of her labor by canning piccalilli, pickles, and applesauce every Fall while listening to her favorites, Engelbert Humperdinck and the Irish Rovers. She loved celebrating holidays, especially Christmas, decorating every inch of the house and baking dozens of cookies.
As a member of the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church, she helped host spaghetti suppers and sold homemade countdown- to- Christmas candy ribbons at the Christmas fairs. She raised money for charities and coordinated winter storm rescues as a member of the Coastal Maine Citizens Band Club and the Channel Five Helping Hand Club in the 1970s. She also won the High Score trophy while leading her team to first place in the Channel 5 Candlepin Bowling League.
After caring for her husband until his death, Lilla relocated to Orlando, FL, where she met, then married George J. Raffa. They enjoyed traveling around the country before retiring to Deltona, FL. He died days after she was admitted to Manor on the Green in Daytona Beach in 2003, where she resided until her death.Lilla loved life with a passion, good times or bad. She enjoyed gardening and sitting in the sun while watching finches, cardinals, and mourning doves nesting in her trees while butterflies fluttered among her flowers. Purple was her favorite color and she wore it often, especially on trips to the malls to shop and people-watch. Reading Agatha Christie mysteries and doing crossword puzzles kept her sharp until the disease took those abilities away. In her early days in Florida, she went to the beach early in the morning and danced to Tina Turner's Proud Mary and the Village People at night.
Survivors include three daughters, Katrina Kersey and Bonnie Arnett of Orlando, FL, Andrea Theobald of Illinois; a son, Jon Kersey of Urbana, IL; a sister, Cynthia Sairio of Durham, ME; and two brothers, Grover A. Connors, Jr. of Topsham, ME, and Patrick Connors of Brunswick, ME. She also had eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. A graveside service and burial took place at Oaklawn Park Cemetery in Sanford, FL on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005.
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