Florence Wiener

It is with shattered hearts that we say goodbye to Florence Wiener, 93, of Needham, MA. Preceded in death just one year ago by her husband of 64 years, Herbie Wiener, Florence is survived by her daughters Michele Sharaf and Beth Wiener, her grandsons Benjamin and Daniel Sharaf and her brother, Marvin Weinstein.

Florence lost a short battle with complications associated with Leukemia just two days after the first anniversary of her beloved Herbie’s death. Florence was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter and aunt.

Her grandsons, in particular, were a great source of  her pride and joy. But she was more than a doting grandmother, she was the family’s matriarch in every sense of the word. Omniscient and omnipotent, Florence was the conductor who made beautiful music out of cacophony, the captain who calmed troubled seas and the bright light that illuminated otherwise treacherous roads ahead.

A Holocaust survivor, Florence came to the United States after WWII in 1947 with her father and brother. After surviving the murder of her mother and grandparents at the hand of the Nazis and the horrors of living in the forests of Belarus for five years, Florence was not deterred.

While looking after her father and brother, she managed to teach herself English by sitting in on five high school English classes a day and simultaneously become a skilled bookkeeper.

Florence became a US citizen in 1954 and met her beloved Herbie soon thereafter and they married in 1960. Best friends for life, they were the perfect ying to each other’s yang, but Florence defined the family. A force to be reckoned with, Florence didn’t pull any punches. She told it to you straight and could be as tough as nails. At the same time, her empathy was palpable. If you hurt, she bled. She was a hard shell and a cotton candy middle, a drill Sargent with a heart of gold, a lion tamer without a whip.

For most of her life, she worked in a local print shop and loved every minute of it. Outside the shop she seemed to know everyone and they knew her. A bit of a yente, she loved to chat up her customers whenever she ran into them. A real celebrity around town. She was devastated when she lost her job at age 70, but turned lemons into lemonade and got healthy. For many years you could find her on the elliptical machine at the JCC on level 8 or walking around the track at the high school.

Sharp as a tack until her final hours she knew every bill coming due, every dollar owed and the cost of grapes at every supermarket within a ten mile radius. There was no putting one over on Florence. We should all aspire to be just a fraction of the woman she was.

Words cannot express how deeply she will be missed. There was no one like her, as unique and wonderful as they come. This world will seem a bit duller without her shine. Our only solace is that she is now reunited with her beloved Herbie.

Graveside service at Sharon Memorial Park, 40 Dedham St., Sharon, MA on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 10:45 am.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Holocaust Legacy Foundation.