Florence Trivett
Springfield, Ohio was the place Florence (Smith) Flora Wallace Trivett called home for nearly 90 years. It was the city in which she was born and where she would spend the rest of her life. Florence was married three times during her lifetime marrying initially in the 1920’s. According to one of her sons, his father–Florence’s first husband–was quite a colorful character. The man (surname Flora) claimed to be an agent with the FBI. This was just one in a string of numerous tales of grandeur combined with cloak and dagger suspense the man would tell people. Florence had four children from that marriage. They include: Robert “Bob” Flora, James Flora, and Mary Flora Johnson. Another son, Richard Flora, was killed in the armed services. Florence subsequently filed for divorce when the couple’s children were quite young. After their divorce, the Flora children were to grow up without ever seeing or hearing from their father again. Florence married for a second time. This time to Harry Wallace. He was born March 1, 1893. On September 10, 1960 he suffered a fatal heart attack and was buried four days later at Ferncliff Cemetery. Florence and Harry had no children. After Harry’s death, Florence lived on a very modest income in the coming years. Her only source of earnings came in the form of a monthly military pension provided to her by the US Government as a result of her son’s death. She lived quietly for the next 15 years as a widow in a rented duplex at 519 Central Avenue. Advancing in years and her vision growing increasingly worse, Florence met the man who was to become her third husband in 1975. She met Wirth Trivett as he traveled the country on a Greyhound Bus. Wirth was born on August 12, 1898 and was recently widowed at the time of their initial meeting. Whether it was love, or just two people who didn’t want to be alone, a little more than 10 months after the death of Wirth’s wife, Vera Trivett, he and Florence married on April 9, 1976 in a formal ceremony at Calvary Baptist Church in Springfield. It was at this church Florence had been a longtime member. Shortly after their marriage, Wirth Trivett purchased a home. He and Florence would live there together for the next 3 years. On January 19, 1980, Wirth Trivett died after suffering a massive heart attack which left him comatose for six weeks. Florence was now a widow for a second time. In the years following Wirth’s death, Florence lived in the house he had purchased for her in Springfield. Toward the end of her life though she stayed at her daughter’s home in Springfield. It was at Mary Johnson’s house that Florence’s life came to an end on Monday, November 19, 1990 at the age of 88. She survived her last husband by nearly 11 years. It had long been Florence’s wish that upon her death, she be buried alongside Harry Wallace. Four days after she died, that wish was honored. The day after Thanksgiving, on Friday, November 23, 1990, she was laid to rest beside Harry on the grounds of Ferncliff Cemetery.
