Florence Edith (Bond) Best

Florence Best

North Sydney

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Florence Edith Best on Sunday, August 11th, 2019. 

A few days after a warm celebration of her 80th birthday, Florence passed peacefully at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. In a revealing testament to her impact, her final hours were spent in a crowded room with two generations of family who travelled from across the country to hold her hand on her final journey. Chairs were scarce and love was abundant. 

The large group of devoted family and friends that she leaves behind is a legacy that speaks to Florence’s character. Fun-loving, sociable and a well known chatter-box, she was funny and loved to laugh. Over the years, she hosted many social clubs and nurtured meaningful friendships over a good game of 45’s. 

Florence expressed her love by feeding her friends and family. She passed her cooking and baking skills on to her children and grandchildren, making a careful point to spend time teaching them her recipes and tricks with great patience.  

Importantly, she was steadfast in her love for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and took great joy in spending her time playing games and singing songs with them. She was known to cheat in card games with them - but only to let them win! 

Florence liked fashion, and enjoyed dressing up.  When she had the opportunity to go swimming, she took it with enthusiasm. She loved to sing at karaoke and at church. She was a regular member of the congregation at St. John the Baptist Anglican Church. 

Florence always showed a quiet strength, but her resilience emerged as a defining and inspiring quality of her character in the final years of her illness. 

Born in North Sydney on August 3, 1939, Florence was the daughter of the late Ralph and Beatrice (Buttry) Bond. Florence was predeceased by her husband, Gerald Best, as well as her sister Audrey (Vaughn) Mathias, brothers Leonard and Ralph (Josephine) Bond and brother-in-law John Orrell.

She is survived by three generations of devoted family. She will be deeply missed by her children Lana Best (Kenneth), Gerald (Eileen) Best, Valerie (Paul) MacDougall, Kevin (Darlene) Best, and John (Kim) Best. Her passing will also leave a hole in the lives of her grandchildren, Jesslyn, Steven, Trevor, Alyssa, Tamika, Todd, Christopher, as well as her great grandchildren, Oliver and Dominic. She is also survived by siblings Virginia Orrell and Lorne (Cathy) Bond. 

The family would like to extend their sincere gratitude to the professionals who cared for Florence during her illness. The staff at the Northside Community Guest Home provided excellent care, and the doctors and nursing staff in unit 4A were skillful in their medical practise and empathetic in their emotional support. The Northside Homemakers and the V.O.N. also provided invaluable support that allowed her to stay in her home on Stanley Street in North Sydney in her later years. 

Visitation for Florence will be held from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday in the W.J. Dooley Funeral Home, 107 Pleasant Street, North Sydney.  Her funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at St. John’s Anglican Church, 24 King Street, North Sydney with Rev. Julio Martin officiating.  Burial will follow in Lakeside Cemetery, North Sydney.

Memorial donations may be made to St. John’s Anglican Church. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.wjdooley.com.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Florence Edith (Bond) Best, please visit our floral store.