Flo Nell (Morris) Ozell
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Flo Nell Ozell died in Tallahassee on August 24, 2020 at age 96 with her family and caregivers at her side.
She was born in Granite, OK on January 11, 1924 to Leon B. and Fern Lee (Morgan) Morris (later Cooper). She grew up in Oklahoma, Texas and Illinois, as her father worked in the oil industry. The first in her family to attend college, Flo Nell graduated from the University of Illinois in 1945 with a degree in Fine Arts, and soon thereafter married her college sweetheart, Alan M. Ozell. Shortly afterward they moved to his native Turkey, and returned to the U. S. in 1949. The couple settled in Norman, OK, where Alan taught engineering at the University of Oklahoma. They moved to Gainesville, FL in 1954 where he taught at UF, then to Sarasota in 1961, and to Jacksonville in 1964. Four children were born along the way (twins Phillip and Camille, Tony and Timothy). In 2008, Flo Nell and Alan moved to Tallahassee to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren.
Flo Nell spent many hours volunteering with community groups such as PTA, the League of Women Voters and other civic organizations. In the 1970s she became one of the first women to host a weekly television program when WJCT (the PBS station in Jacksonville) started a phone-in program dealing with societal issues called 'Family Focus'. She later worked as a writer for the Jacksonville Journal Newspaper on the editorial staff. A perennial advocate for equality and fair treatment for all people, she was very active in promoting legislation and policies that would uphold the rights of women and minority groups.
Flo Nell loved genealogy research on her family. She enjoyed playing bridge with groups everywhere she and Alan lived. She also loved reading, crossword puzzles, playing Scrabble and solitaire. She loved walks on the beach where she was a whiz at spotting shark teeth. Flo Nell and Alan travelled to many countries in their 67 years of marriage, but her favorite place to be was at her cabin in western North Carolina. She loved her family, especially her little great-grandchildren who called her "Flo Baby". Her special bridge friends in Tallahassee (Bib, Roxanne and Pat) were also dear to her.
Flo Nell was predeceased by her parents, her brother, and her son-in-law, Jim Park and Alan predeceased Flo Nell in 2013. She is survived by children Phillip (Terry) of Atlanta, Camille Park of Tallahassee, Tony Ozell of England and Timothy Ozell (Desha) of Maple Grove, MN. She is also survived by her seven grandchildren: Melissa Park Roberts (Kenyon), Rebecca Park Hale (Matt), Elliott Ozell, Allison Ozell Gosnell (Brett), Emery Ozell, Lily Ozell and Amelia Ozell and three great-grandchildren: Emily Roberts, Jackson Hale, and Liam Roberts. She also had nieces, nephews and cousins in many states who were very dear to her.
The family is very grateful to the staff of Anointed Hands, LLC (Brenda, Cicdon and Rena) for their exceptional care and dedication to "Miss Flo's" needs during the past two years, and to the staff at Allegro Senior Living where she lived for the past three years. Thanks also to Jannah, her nurse from Big Bend Hospice for her help to the family.
To honor her memory, the family encourages donations to the League of Women Voters of Florida (P.O. Box 1911, Orlando, FL 32802-1911) or to Big Bend Hospice (1723 Mahan Center Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32308).