Florence Walton Pye Apy of Red Bank peacefully passed away March 28, 2024, in hospice at Riverview Medical Center, surrounded by her family.
Flo was born May 5, 1931, in Spring Lake to Reginald C. and Florence Walton Pye and remained a lifelong resident of New Jersey. Her early childhood was spent in Glen Rock and Ridgewood, until at 13 her family moved to Red Bank.
She met her future husband, Chester Apy, in the eighth grade at Miss Mozar’s Dancing Class. Flo graduated from Red Bank High School and was a distinguished 1953 graduate of Sweet Briar College in Virginia. She married Chester in 1954, a week before his graduation from Princeton University, and the couple moved to New York City. While her husband attended Columbia University Law School, Flo began six years of work at the College Entrance Examination Board, sparking a lifelong passion for education. After her husband graduated, they moved to Red Bank and then in 1960 to Little Silver where they raised their three sons, David, Donald and Dean.
While attending Sweet Briar, Florence began her engagement in the Civil Rights movement in response to the racial segregation she witnessed in southeast Virginia. She returned to Monmouth County inspired to work for racial equality, campaigning for fair housing laws for minorities. On August 28, 1963, she and her mother-in-law Grace Wiseburn Apy traveled to Washington, D.C. to hear the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, calling for the protection of equal rights for all Americans.
During the following decades, Flo entered public service and was elected to three, three-year terms on the Little Silver Board of Education, where she eventually served as president for four years. Subsequently, she was elected to five three-year terms on the Red Bank Regional Board of Education where she also served as president. Under her leadership, the first regional district alternative school was conceived and established. During those years she was also active at both the county and state levels of the New Jersey School Boards Association. As a member of the NJSBA Board of Directors for more than a decade, her work significantly influenced educational policy throughout the state.
In June 1993 she was the recipient of the Ty Lewis Spirit Award given by the Black American Cultural Association, recognizing her courage and moral leadership. She was the first white female recipient to be so honored. In response, she indicated simply that “her personal satisfaction was found in making a difference for the better.”
After Flo and her husband Chet retired from public service, they moved to the Atrium in Red Bank in 2013 where they remained active community members until Chester died in 2021. In addition to her parents and husband, Florence was predeceased by her brother, U.S. Navy Cdr. Reginald C. Pye Jr., her sister-in-law Helen Lee Apy, and her brothers-in-law, Arthur G. Apy and Douglas K. Apy.
Beyond her desire to advocate for the rights of minorities, women and all those subject to discrimination, Flo was devoted to her children and grandchildren, whose lives have been forever impacted by her legacy.
She is survived by her three sons and their spouses, David C. Apy and Patricia McHale Apy of Little Silver, Donald W. Apy and Jennifer Don Apy of Fremont, California, and Dean W. Apy and Susan Yount Apy of La Crescenta, California; and her 10 beloved grandchildren and their partners, Emily Powell Bera and Danny Bera of Alexandria VA; David C. Apy Jr. and Julia L. Millington of Little Silver; Daniel F. Apy and Abby Hawkins of Long Branch; Andrew W. Apy of Fremont, California; Marissa G. Apy attending Scripps College, Claremont, California; Christopher J. Apy of Fremont, California; Alexandra G. Apy, attending Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Mallory M. Apy, Jackson G. Apy and Trevor D. Apy of La Crescenta, California.
Florence maintained close and caring relationships with a host of friends and extended family both near and far, including her sister-in-law MaryJane Fitzpatrick Pye; sister-in-law Judith G. Apy; brother-in-law Edward C. Apy and wife Sharon and their family; niece Karen L. Apy and nephew Edward C. Apy Jr. and their families; nieces Kathleen Pye de Marchi, Victoria Pye and Regina Pye Chandler and nephew John E. Pye III and their families; nephews, Douglas M. Apy and Ralph R. Johnson and their families; and dear friends Dr. Donald Warner and Rosemarie Hertting.
Memorial visitation with a service was held April 1 at Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank.
In lieu of flowers, Florence’s family respectfully suggests contributions of time or resources be made in her honor to the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center, 94 Drs. James Parker Blvd., Red Bank; Camp Bethel Association, Haddam CT c/o Lea DeGuilo, 202 7th St., Green Brook, NJ; or to the charitable organization of your choice.
The article originally appeared in the April 11 – 17, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
