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- Obituary
Flossie Bassett, founding figure, dies at 100
St. Petersburg Times
She was an organizer of the county's Historical Society and Art League, as well as Floral City Heritage Days.
By Jorge Sanchez, Times Staff Writer
FLORAL CITY - Flossie Love Zellner Bassett, a descendant of the town's founder and a cherished and respected member of the community in her own right, died Friday (April 16, 2004) at her home at the age of 100.
Miss Flossie, as she was known, was the great-granddaughter of the founder of Floral City, Jean Prospier Formy-Duval, for whom Duval Island is named. She was born Dec. 1, 1903.
Mrs. Bassett was also the last surviving charter member of Citrus County Historical Society.
In 1963, she was one of 15 people appointed by Gov. Farris Bryant to the Citrus County Historical Commission. She was one of the founders of the Citrus County Art League, the Floral City Garden Club and the Floral City Woman's Club.
She was also the first female real estate agen in Citrus County in the 1940s and was an eight-year member of the Citrus County School Board.
She was also among the original organizers of the Floral City Heritage Days, a two-day event in December that pays tribute to the town's early days, when it was a thriving mining town.
The Citrus Commission issued a proclamation in 2002 honoring her with Flooise Bassett Day.
"Knowing she was there to fill in a name, place or date was always so reassuring to all of us who have tried to continue the work she began of preserving and furthering the knowledge of the history and prehistory of Citrus County," said fellow Historical Society colleague Marcia Beasley of Floral City in an e-mail.
"She was our inspirator, our mentor, our support."
Mrs. Bassett furnished a number of significant artifacts to Heritage Courhouse Museum in Inverness, such as the surveying instrument used when Citrus County was formed in 1887 and a steering wheel from the steamship Reindeer, whose route was the Orange State Canal and Withlacoochee River.
Survivors include two sons, James, Green Valley, Ariz., and H.D., Floral City; a sister, Lillian Carghill, Montgomery, Ala.; and two grandchildren.
A cremation was planned and there will be no memorial service, according to a representative at Charles Davis Funeral Home.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1903 - 2004 (100 years)