Florence Agnes Palmer Kostrzewa

Florence Agnes Palmer Kostrzewa, 81, of Johnson City, TN passed away June 20, surrounded by her loving family. Florence was born November 1, 1943, in Ogden, PA, the daughter of Samuel Joseph Palmer (Fire Chief, Sun Oil Co., Chester, PA) and Florence Reading Palmer. Florence attended Catholic grade school and Holy Child Academy High School, before attending Philadelphia College of Pharmacy & Science, where she graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry. There she met her future spouse, Richard Kostrzewa. Florence was the breadwinner as a Chemical Technician at the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College, while husband Richard completed Doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. Florence and Richard were married in 1965, a marriage of nearly 60 years. They celebrated their 50th and 56th (not 55th, because of covid) anniversaries with large group dinners attended by family and friends. Florence and Richard have 10 children and 25 grandchildren: Theresa/James Morehead; Richard/Kristina: Winston, Drew; Joseph/Genevieve: Walter, Sylvia, Tayler, Clay; Maria/Gene Cahill: Elise, Olivia, Ansley, Will, Sophia, Maggie; Krystyna/Jason Pyle: Kate, Harper, Lane; Thomas/Ria: Palmer, Carolina, Adrianna; John/Sally: Peyton, Charles, Sam; Francis/Amy: Kendall, Parker; Roseanna/Hunter Ledbetter: Lily, Lucas; Monica/Charles Ivins: Murphy, Ferris.

Florence was proud that all of her children attended Catholic schools. She and husband Richard had a singular philosophy: "Children come First." All the children graduated from college, many went on for still higher education, earning Master's or Doctoral degrees. Her favorite past-time, as well as that of husband Richard, was watching their own children play sports. This evolved to watching their grandchildren play sports, attending as many of their games as possible. Florence loved cooking, leading her to open and operate The French Quarter Restaurant. Each day at home began with "soup for breakfast;" with a warm dinner at day's end. Any of her children's playmates were invited to stay for dinners; they were always welcome. Her specialty was cookies. She sent a care package of baked treats for birthdays and she was affectionally known as the "cookie lady" by the neighborhood kids. For many years, Florence contributed food and physical presence at the "Loaves and Fishes" ministry at St. Mary's Church and she had a great appreciation for Veterans, police officers and first responders. In public, she regularly thanked them for their service and wore red every Friday to honor them.

In most recent years, Florence and Richard went on FAMILY vacations, with all or nearly all, of the children at a beach resort or elsewhere. Florence also went on family European trips with some of her children and grandchildren. She enjoyed Mardi gras in New Orleans, where she witnessed her Spouse and Sons riding on Bacchus floats and celebrations at the Bacchus Ball afterwards. Another favorite was tailgating with family and friends for UT football games in Knoxville, Keeneland horse races in Lexington and baseball games in Cincinnati.

Family includes Richard's brothers Thomas/Eileen (deceased) Kostrzewa: Cynthia, Barbara, Carole; John/Angie Kostrzewa: Stacey; Edward (deceased)/Violet (deceased) Kostrzewa: Michael/Irene: Adam; Edward/Eileen. Lifetime friends Peggy (deceased)/Bill Wolfgang, JoEllen Szymurski, Bill (deceased)/Pat (deceased) Jewett, Mike/Ann Doyle, Barry/Merlene Darby, Chester/Rose Kuhnell, Abba Kastin (deceased)/Weihong Pan, Jack/Irma Maser, Yousef/Vera Tizabi, Ryszard/Asia Brus, Lawrence (deceased)/Brenda Porterfield, John/Ann Baraclough, Mike/Emma Jacobs and many others too numerous to name. Florence's dedication was to St. Mary's Catholic Church, where she attended daily Mass, with her very close friend Arlene/Ken Droll, who was the sister she never had. Sunday Mass was followed consistently, for many years, by the "Breakfast Club" [Dale/Angela (deceased) Paduch, Eric/Fran Chlebisch, Fred/Charlene Kauffman and Robin/Vivian Green] get-together at a local restaurant: men at one table, women at the other.

So, who was Florence? "There's nobody that doesn't like Florence"; she liked everyone and everyone liked her. She was a selfless and religious person, who always placed others first. Florence was uniquely aware of what her children and grandchildren were doing: schooling, sports, travels, etc. and was happy her children and grandchildren had extraordinarily good times at outings in Las Vegas, New Orleans and elsewhere. She was the exceptional person all of us strive to be and she will continue from above to make sure all is in order in their lives.

Visitation will be held at Morris-Baker Funeral Home on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, from 5:00pm until 7:00pm. Funeral mass will be held at St. Mary's Catholic Church on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at 11:00am the family will receive friends 1 hour prior to the mass beginning at 10:00am.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family via www.morrisbaker.com.

Morris-Baker Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 2001 E Oakland Ave, Johnson City, is serving the family of Florence Palmer Kostrzewa. (423) 282-1521