FLORA JANE RAFTE

BONITA SPRINGS, FL-Flora Jane Houseman Rafte, 90, of Fort Myers, Florida, formerly of Oneida and Sherrill, died Wednesday in Joanne’s House at Hope Hospice. Born in Oneida, on November 4, 1927, she was the daughter of Darwin O. and Dorothy Reese Houseman. A resident of Florida for the past four years, Flora was a graduate of Oneida High School. She married Denato Rafte, Jr. in St. Francis Church, Durhamville, on December 28, 1946. Mr. Rafte died on September 27, 2015. Denato and Flora and their family resided in Paramus, New Jersey for thirty years, and then they moved in 1980 to Oneida and later Sherrill, until 2014. When she resided in New Jersey, Flora was employed with Loehman’s Clothing Store for twenty years and moving to Central New York, she was employed with the former Yankee Ltd. and Cottontails, Etc. in Sherrill. She was a communicant of St. Helena’s Church, when she resided in Sherrill and Our Lady of the Light Catholic Community in Estero. Surviving are her daughter and son-in-law, Linda and James Robinson of Estero, Florida; her daughter-in-law, Debra Rafte of Rome; her grandchildren, Scott (Sharon) Robinson, Kristen (Damon) Brist, Sean Robinson, Matthew (Kristen) Rafte and Megan (Adam) Bice; her great grandchildren, Kaitlin, Connor, Brendan, Cooper, Riley, Violet, Eloise and James; her three brothers, Charles Houseman, William and Gail Houseman and James and Sandra Houseman; all of the Villages, Florida; her brother-in-law and sister-in-laws, James and Marcia Rafte of Oneida and Dorothy Houseman of Rome; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her son, Donald S. Rafte on October 18, 2005, her brothers, Darwin “Bud” and John Houseman, her two sisters, Helen Gunther and Shirley Farley, her brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Anthony and Shirley Rafte, Leo and Jean Rafte and Marion Rafte. Funeral services will be held 10:15, Wednesday from the Campbell-Dean Funeral Home, Inc. 260 Main Street, Oneida and 11 AM from St. Helena’s Church, where the Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by the Reverend William Mesmer, pastor. Interment will be made in St. Patrick’s Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home, 3-7 PM, Tuesday. Contributions, in her memory, may be made to St. Helena’s Church, 210 Primo Avenue, Sherrill, NY 13461 or Joanne’s House at Hope Hospice, 27200 Imperial Parkway, Bonita Springs, Fl 34135. To leave a message of condolence, visit www.campbell-dean.com. CAMPBELL-DEAN FUNERAL HOME, INC.

ONEIDA