Emma Marie (nee Rafter) Florkewicz, of West Caldwell, NJ, died at home on Friday, March 14, 2025 at the age of 96, with her son at her side, after a short battle with liver cancer.
Emma was born in Smock PA on August 14, 1928, to Emma (nee Jaworski) and Patrick Rafter, the 4th of 12 children. Known as “Em-Marie” to her parents and siblings, she graduated from Uniontown High School and worked as a bookkeeper for Bortz Beer Distributors in Smock and as a Cashier/ Clerk for the G. C. Murphy “5 and Dime” in Uniontown, before moving in 1953 to Lyndhurst, NJ where she lived with her beloved Aunt Bridget (Stock), and where she was later joined by almost half of her siblings!
Emma worked as a Cashier/ Clerk for the Acme Supermarket in Lyndhurst NJ; there she was introduced (by her future mother-in-law!) to the love of her life, Vincent Florkewicz, of Lyndhurst, whom she married on May 4, 1963 at Sacred Heart R. C. Church in Lyndhurst. They settled in Fairfield where they raised their son, Thomas, and lived for the next 35 years.
Later, Emma returned to the retail world as a Sales Consultant for Bamberger’s (Macy’s) at Willowbrook Mall, where she worked for several years until her retirement.
In retirement, Vincent and Emma moved to the newly-constructed Crane’s Mill retirement community joining what became known as the “Pioneers” – the first group of Independent Living residents who moved there in 1998. At Crane’s Mill, they enjoyed the day trips, bingo games, walks around the community, and especially meeting and being with many new friends, and enjoyed being retired.
Upon Vincent’s death in 2016, Emma continued to reside in Independent Living until January, 2021, when she moved to the community’s Assisted Living unit where she lived until her passing. There she continued to enjoy the various group activities, including bingo, paper and jewelry crafting, flower arranging and tie-dyeing with many friends, some new, some old.
Emma and Vincent were founding parishioners of St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church in Fairfield, where she remained a regular communicant until the 2020 pandemic. She then attended the bi-weekly masses celebrated in the Assisted Living community and when she was able, the weekly Sunday masses in Towne Square provided for the community’s residents.
Emma was pre-deceased by her parents, her husband Vincent, her Aunt Bridget, her beloved brothers James, John (Jack), Patrick (PJ), Robert (Bobby) and Richard (Richie) and sisters Mary (Betty), Anna (Katie), Agnes and Bernadette. She is survived by her son, Tommy, her brother Edward (Eddie) and sister Frances (Francie), her sisters-in-law Jeannette Christopher and Maureen Rafter, and numerous nieces and nephews, all who she loved so much.
She also loved her extended family of caregivers from Crane’s Mill ‘s ALU who she came to know over the past few years and who not only ensured her health and safety but became her friends. She would want to, and the family truly thanks the numerous current and former ALU and Skilled Nursing administrators and support teams, nurses, CMA’s, aides and care staff who saw to her health care, the activities coordinators who provided the ‘fun!’, the food service staff who worked with her diet and food, and the rehabilitation therapists who got her back on her feet when she needed the boost over the past 5 years. We would like to thank Dr. Pradip Shah for the more than 20 years of care provided both to Vincent and Emma, and Diamant for all of his support. Like family, she loved each of you, not only for what you did for her, but for who you are, and respected all of your efforts helping her and the other residents.
We would also like to thank the nurse practitioners, home health aides, social workers, chaplain and staff from Journey Hospice/ Spiricare who treated her as though she was part of their family and showed her such dignity and respect, especially during the past weeks as her illness progressed.
May God richly bless each and every one of you.
While she loved flowers, donations to these organizations in her honor could also be considered.
Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey, which is the owner of Crane’s Mill but offers support and services to the needy in NJ:
https://www.lsmnj.org/support-us/ways-to-donate/
Vietnam Veterans of America, which Emma and Vincent regularly donated to for more than 30 years:
https://vva.org/donate/
Or a charity of your choice, in her honor.
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Make a donation to one of the following charities in remembrance of Emma Florkewicz
