Jean Farstad Fleming

1929 - 2019

Jean Patricia Farstad Fleming, of North Port, Fla., died Dec. 22, 2019, in Port Charlotte, Fla. Mrs. Fleming was born Nov. 4, 1929, in Williamsport, the daughter of Maeva Gann Farstad and Rolfe F. Farstad. She graduated from Williamsport High School in 1945. She was the office manager for NBC affiliate radio station WRAK in Williamsport before her marriage to J. David Fleming, of Milton, in 1949. Mrs. Fleming had a 25-year career in weekly newspaper publishing. She and her husband established Fleming Advertising Associates in 1958 in Milton, Fla., while her husband was advertising manager for the Milton Press Gazette. Mrs. Fleming published the Naval Air Station Whiting Field monthly officers' wives bulletin for several years before the couple moved to Chipley, Fla., where they owned and published the Washington County News and the Graceville (Florida) News. In 1968, they sold the newspapers, did freelance advertising and printing in Williamsport for a year, and then both became affiliated with Independent Newspapers, Inc., in the Bowie (Maryland) Blade advertising department. After a year, INI named her husband publisher of the Okeechobee (Florida) News. Subsequently, he also published the Arcadian, Charlotte County Chronicle, the Frostproof News, and the North Port News, and Mrs. Fleming was the administrative assistant. After retiring from INI, Mrs. Fleming served as office manager for the Lake Placid Journal for several years. She and her husband moved to Houston, Texas, in 1984 where she was an executive secretary in the Surgical Oncology Dept. at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center before retiring to Splendora, Texas, in 1991. Mrs. Fleming volunteered for 15 years at Splendora Junior High School. She moved to North Port in 2014 and resided with her daughter, Mrs. Julia Lozano. She was a member of Living Waters Lutheran Church and the NSDAR Hickory Bluff Chapter. She was predeceased by her husband in 1996 and daughter, Nancy Fleming Mellor, of North Port, in 1977. Mrs. Fleming is survived by three daughters, Julia Fleming Lozano, of North Port; Susan Fleming Elliott and her husband Fred, of Weyers Cave, Va.; and Janet Fleming Hart and her husband Glenn, of North Port; son-in-law, Cord Mellor, of North Port; niece, Elizabeth Fields and her husband Bob, of Reading, Pa.; grandchildren, Joseph Mellor and his wife Melissa, of Melrose, Mass.; Rebecca Elliott Sayne and her husband Aaron, of Crozet, Va.; Sarah Elliott Foster and her husband James, of Burnsville, N.C.; David Elliott and his wife Sondra, of Oakland, Calif.; Jed Hart and his wife Jessica, of Tallahassee, Fla.; Andy Hart of Wilmington, N.C.; Jenny Hart, of Lake Worth, Texas; great-grandchildren, August and Luciana Sayne, Luke and Beau Mellor, Jordis Jean Hart, Madeline Elliott, and Freddie Foster; great-niece, Elizabeth Fields; and great-nephew, Michael Fields. The funeral for Mrs. Fleming will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6, at Living Waters Lutheran Church in North Port, Fla., with interment at Venice Memorial Gardens. Farley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.