Gram: Florence Hartsgrove Gauthier

They came barefoot or in sneakers. They wore everything from shorts and slacks to dresses and bathing suits. They brought potato and macaroni salads, deviled eggs and baked beans, meats and more. And all kinds of sweets for dessert.

They were all related, dozens of them, plus the Mayor, who is a neighbor, and a few friends.

The sun was shining, the breeze was cool, and the tide was coming in. It was the perfect day, time and place to say a final goodbye with a smile and rose petals for the beloved Florence Hartsgrove Gauthier, Gram to everyone.

It was Saturday afternoon and the family and a chaplain had just said their final prayers and goodbyes to Gram at Bayview Cemetery where there was a brief ceremony as the family presented her cremains for burial.

Then four generations of the family gathered at the Miller St. Beach, locally known as Gram’s Beach, for a final farewell , youngsters had sand pails filled with rose petals, and guests each took petals and tossed them in the water, along with a prayer for Florence and the family.

Some of the petals were picked up on waves and headed straight out to open water; others washed back up on the beach, only go out again on the next wave. Still other petals  attached themselves to bare toes in the water, before finally letting go and heading out.

Then grandson David topped off the waterside memories by diving in and swimming out for a final goodbye to his grandmother and a look back at the Highlands she loved.

“This was what Gram would have wanted,” explained one of her five daughters, Lee Limberger. “She always said she loved parties on the beach. This beach. And when she was in the hospital before she died, we told her when she got home, there would be a party on the beach. She smiled as broadly as she could in her final illness and said, ‘oh, that will be great. I’ll be there.’ “

Both at the cemetery and at Gram’s Beach, all of the family had different stories to tell, different memories to share, all about the love and care of the matriarch of the large generational family and her love for the beach next to her home. Mayor Carol Broullon, who knew Gram as her next door neighbor, was there with the family to share their pain in losing her but their joy in all their memories. At 100 years of age, Mrs. Gauthier was the oldest living native of Highlands at the time of her death, and was honored with a resolution by the Mayor and Council which the mayor read and presented at last month’s council meeting.

Last year, she wrote the forward to a book about Highlands residents who made a difference, “The ABCs of Highlands.” In her foreword Florence described Highlands as “a special place to grow up and raise the next generations.” She noted that while Highlands “has changed with the times, it will always provide happy memories for those lucky enough to grow up here.”

Gram died in April of natural causes, surrounded by her family then as she was Saturday,  Her obituary described her door as always open, the coffee pot always on, her love for Bingo games, adventures to Atlantic City and scratch offs. It explained how she “loved spending time at the beach whether it be putting her feet in the water, scanning the beach with a metal detector or taking rides through Sandy Hook.”

That is why the final memorial ceremony was held at the Miller St.  beach everyone knows as Gram’s Beach.

In addition to her five daughters, Gram is survived by 13 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren, and four great great-grandchildren, along with scores of cousins, nieces and nephews.