Veronika "Florence" C. Young
June 14, 1921 ~ September 30, 2012
Veronika Florence (Pitala) Young was born June 14, 1921 in NE Mpls. She had one older sister Lucille (Lucy) and two younger brothers, Stanley, Jr. (Buddy) and Edward. Florence and her family were long time members of Holy Cross Church in northeast. In February 1944, Lucy joined the Womens Army Corp (WAC) and in April, Buddy joined the Navy. Florence soon followed at the end of 1944 and joined the Womens Army Corp and became a WAC. She was based in San Francisco at the Port of Embarkation. While in the service, she received a decoration and citation, World War II Victory Medal. While in San Francisco she met Jack Young and they married. A short time later they separated and after some time in San Francisco Florence returned to N.E. Minneapolis...her home. She soon found a job with the Veterans Administration hospital and worked there for 30 years receiving a Service Award for faithful service to the United States Government. Florence lived with her mother and father and cared for them in their elderly years until they both passed away. In 1983 after her mother passed on, she moved to a high rise. In the years that followed she traveled all over the West, including an ocean cruise, many camping trips in the RV and down to Branson with her brother, Ed and wife Pat. She lived just a couple of blocks from her sister, Lucy and husband. The two sisters and friends enjoyed shopping and going out to eat. Chuck, Lucys husband, used to call it ratting around. Lucy became ill and Florence helped care for her until she passed away in 2000. The next spring Florence moved to Forest Lake to be closer to her brother, Ed. She moved into Whispering Pines and soon had a nice surprise when Dee, Sharons mother moved into the same apartment building. A wonderful friendship started. They enjoyed traipsing around Forest Lake especially going down to the park and sitting by the lake. One of their favorite haunts was the bakery. In order to get there they had to cross dangerous highway 61 but they got their coffee and donut. Florence started to have some health issues and we started to look for a safer environment for her. She saw that they were building a new Assisted Living by the hospital and decided that was going to be her new home. The Lord blessed her with the desire of her heart and she moved into Meadows Assisted Living shortly after they opened their doors for new residents. Again she was blessed with a wonderful new friend. Toots lived right across the hall and the two of them gave Meadows an unending amount of angst...like two sisters in every way. When Toots passed away it was a very sad time for Florence. Florence again was having worse health issues and had to look into a nursing home. Again she had the place picked out and no other would do. Parmly was definitely the one. Sheri worked there and that is where she was going to go. So from the hospital to Parmly she went. Again, she was blessed with a dear friend and roommate, Eileen. Florence roamed the halls and knew every nook and cranny of Parmly. She enjoyed her stay though it was short. Veronika Florence died on September 30, 2012. She is preceded in death by parents, Stanley and Ella; sister, Lucille Dady; and brother, Stanley Pitala, Jr. She will be deeply missed by brother and sister-in-law, Edward and Patricia Pitala; nieces and nephews; grand nieces and nephews; great grand nieces and nephews and many wonderful friends. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 AM Friday, October 5, 2012 at Margaret S. Parmly Chapel, 28210 Old Towne Road, Chisago City, MN. Interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery will be held on October 16, 2012.
My Mother & I will miss Veronika’s friendly visits at Parmly. We often enjoyed chatting with Veronika. She was a very sweet lady. She helped the other residents at her table (making sure they had the things they needed before meals). She was compassionate to others. She tried to inform the staff whenever she felt someone was not getting enough to eat or seemed unhappy.