Florita Skov Obituary (1927 - 2024)

Florita Mathilde (Oien) Skov passed away the second day of the New Year peacefully at home among her family. Oldest daughter of Lee and Olga (Olson) Oien, Florita was born on June 13, 1927. She and her younger sister Ginger grew up on her family farm (Oien’s Dairy) in Kent. She spent many happy Sundays and holidays in her youth at her maternal grandma Mathilde Olson’s large home in Maple Valley, among lots of cousins and uncles and aunts. She graduated from Kent High School in 1945. A member of Delta Zeta sorority at the University of Washington., Class of 1949. In 1950, at the age of 23, she sailed alone to Europe to reconnect to her family’s roots in Norway and Sweden which had been sustained by a generation of letters, passed by all 4 branches of her immigrant grandparent’s families. She continued to nurture these family ties throughout her long life. In 1953, She married Ervin Skov following his return from the Korean War. She had known him since childhood when his family moved from Minnesota to a farm in Enumclaw, right next to Florita’s Aunt Adeline and Uncle Sig’s place. Florita and Ervin settled in Rainier Beach and had 2 sons; Stanley in 1956, and Norman in 1961. She was ever active in All Saint’s Church on Cloverdale Street and worked for 10 years in the 1980s at the Southeast Seattle Senior Center. When Ervin retired, they travelled frequently; all around the Northwest and the U.S. with her Kent High School Class’s “45ers” RV club, as well as trips to Hawaii, Europe, Scandinavia, and Australia. There were 60 years of summer holidays with family and friends on the beach at a Bainbridge family cabin (her father Lee was born in 1896 on his father’s dairy farm on Bainbridge Island). Also, she and Ervin hosted many visits from Scandinavian relatives of 3 generations, always returning the welcome she had received when she visited the “old country” in 1950, and subsequent trips with Ervin also visiting his relations in Denmark. Florita and Ervin celebrated their 70th anniversary in June at Lakeshore Senior Living at the southern end of Lake Washington, living there since 2010. Master seamstress. Quilter. A full life of kindness, gentle strength, and happiness in friendship and family. Florita “Orky” is loved and missed by many. Please contact Florita's son Stan (737) 465- 3317 for any information or to say hello.