Aldonia H. Flowers

Aldonia Hadley Flowers

Mrs. Aldonia Hadley Flowers, 90 years old, passed away on Thursday, May 19, 2011. She was born in Cairo, Georgia to Herbert Garret and Beatrice Butler Hadley in 1920. She grew up in Palmetto, Florida and graduated from Lincoln High School there. Her Mother died when she was four years old and an older brother, Willie James, and a younger sister, Ethel Mae, died in the typhoid fever epidemic before she was six.

She was preceded in death by her late husband, William Doby Flowers, Sr. and her fifth child, William Doby Flowers, Jr. They raised and educated six children in Tallahassee, Fl. Her surviving children are: Altha Flowers Manning, Alwillie Hampton Speights (Charles), Fred Herbert Flowers (Loretta), Doby Lee Flowers, and Ralph Flowers (Barbara). She has 12 grandchildren and 14 great grand children. Her children, grands and greatgrands were the joy of her life. She had many cousins, nieces and nephews to whom she was very close and an abundance of friends both young and old, several of which she called her children. She and her first cousin Gladys Crawford of Miami are among the few Hadleys left in their generation. She called a dear childhood friend, Naomi Bivens of Bradenton, Florida, her sister. They remained close until her death.

Mrs. Flowers was a community and civil rights activist and worked tirelessly with the Rev. C.K. Steele and her dear friend Christine Knowles to integrate the schools of Leon County. She taught in the Leon County Schools for many years at the original Lincoln High School and later at Lively Vocational Technical School. This transition too was a civil rights issue as she had to force the issue of assignment to a school following the closing of the original Lincoln High School.

She also was one of the leaders that following the closing of the original Lincoln High School insisted that the next high school built be named Lincoln High School. She was a member of the Capital City Garden Clubs, The Miccosukee Sword Swallowers Bible Study Group, the NAACP, and several other organizations. She took great pride in her church, Bethel Baptist Missionary Church and her ministers, Rev. C.K. Steele, Rev. Alexander and the current minister, Rev. R. B. Holmes whom she loved and considered as one of her sons. The family requests that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the "Mrs. Aldonia Hadley Flowers Endowed Scholarship Fund" at Florida A & M University. Checks should be made to: The FAMU Foundation for the above scholarship fund. For additional information please contact Mrs. Audrey Simmons Smith, Post Office Box 6562, Tallahassee, Florida 32314-6562 or by phone at (850) 599-3095. Memorial Services will be held Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at Bethel Baptist Missionary Church at 1:00 PM. Viewing of the body will be two hours before the service at the church or at Strong and Jones Funeral Home prior to the funeral date.