Florence Marie Branson Slade

If there is anything lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy- she sought after those things. Much more, she was those things.

Florence Marie Branson (named after her two aunts Florence and Marie) was born February 24th, 1936 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The oldest child of Jessie Lea Roberts and Melvin Earl Branson. Thirteen years later a baby sister- Billie Lea was born and became her real-life doll and truest joy.

Her family moved from place to place growing up but settled in the White Mountains of AZ, where she would meet and marry her sweetheart of 70 years.

Junior year in high school she was invited to go to a seminary class on the Book of Mormon, where she read it and gained a testimony it was true; two years later she was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In high school she was senior class president, as well as the Rodeo Queen. July 18, 1954, the summer after high school graduation she married her true love and high school sweetheart Blaine Slade.

Her young mothering years were spent both at work and at home. Some of those jobs include; secretary to the superintendent of Round Valley Schools, working at the county assessor’s office, and handling the bookkeeping of her husband’s enterprises. Her three children- Brant, Renae, and Barrett– being her greatest pride and joy.

In her later years she went back to school and graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU. Later working at an interior design firm in Scottsdale, AZ and teaching interior design night classes at Mesa Community College. Always one for decorating, her house was never stagnant.

Her identity as a child of God was paramount as she spent many years as a temple worker in the Mesa temple. Having many callings of trust and responsibility in the church.

A community builder, personal historian, and voracious searcher for knowledge– a dedicated genealogist, leaving her posterity with many records, spending time researching and participating in family history work. Oh how she loved her family including 9 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. She loved to read them a story and often gave books as presents.

She read non-stop, anything and everything. The classics, the histories, the scriptures, and of course with a tall coke in her hands- filled to the brim with ice.

Her example gently led her family closer to Christ. She continues her work to coax us heavenward, whether in the divine music, art, or literature she loved while on earth, or through the peaceful spirit-filled home she modeled. She will be working heaven-side to bring us all back to our Savior together again.

“What must I do, Mother, what must I do to make a different world for her? How do I start?” “The secret lies in the reading and the writing. You are able to read. Every day you must read one page from some good book to your child. Every day this must be until the child learns to read. Then she must read every day, I know this is the secret.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Arrangements by Bunker’s University Chapel, www.bunkerfuneral.com. Should this obituary appear anywhere but bunkerfuneral.com, please check our website for accurate details and service information.