Florence Burke Goepel passed away peacefully on February 11, 2012, at age 99. Born on December 9, 1912, in Waucoma, Iowa, Florence was the first of Tom and Bessie Burke's seven children. Florence grew up on a small Iowa farm, attending St. Mary's Elementary School and Waucoma High School, where she graduated in 1931. After earning her teaching certificate from Upper Iowa College in Fayette, Iowa, she taught in a one-room rural schoolhouse. At times she brought her preschool-aged brother and youngest sibling, Billy, to class. Florence met her beloved husband, Herbert "Tud" Goepel in Garner, Iowa, in 1940. They spent their courting days dancing at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, and attending movies. They married in 1943 in Wichita, Kansas, where Florence worked for Beech Aircraft as a riveter on various military aircraft during World War II. She and her husband then moved to Miami Beach, Florida, where he was stationed while serving in the Army Air Corps for the duration of the war. After the war, Florence and Tud, together with her best friend, Mae Studer, resided in Cleveland before finally settling in the Los Angeles area in 1946. They initially stayed with Florence's brother and sister-in-law John and Ruth Burke in Maywood. During this time, Florence worked at Sears Department Store in Los Angeles, and Tud started a long career as a union carpenter. Shortly afterward they purchased a home in Maywood where their first son, Thomas was born in 1952. They then moved to Santa Fe Springs, which became their home for 60 years. Their second son, James, was born in 1957. Florence worked as a homemaker and was involved many activities, including the Catholic Daughters of America and the Mother's Guild at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Santa Fe Springs. She loved to attend football games at St. Paul High School, from which her two sons graduated. She was an avid Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers fan and loved all sports. After retirement, Herb and Florence traveled extensively, including annual summer driving trips to visit family in Iowa, and a trip to the Tipperary area of Ireland, the birthplace of her grandfather, John Burke, who emigrated to the United States in 1861. Florence was preceded in death by her parents as well as brothers, James and John, and her sister, Frances. She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Herbert, sons, Thomas (Anne) and James (Gilien); granddaughter, Elayna, step-grandson, Jonathan Hrabko, god-daughters, Ann Haiden, and Mary Skill (Cameron), sisters, Mary Amrose and Patsy Lynn, a brother, Bill Burke, and best friend, Mae (Studer) Haiden. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, as well as grand-nieces and grand-nephews and other relatives across the United State and in Ireland.