Florence Mae Lowe Hastings

Florence (Flossie) Mae Lowe was born in Delmar.  She was the daughter of Isaac Samuel Lowe (1858-1917) and Sallie Zieglar Lear Lowe(1867-1941).  In 1912 she married Norman Lockwood Hastings (1890-1945).  Norman worked for the railroad as a telegraph operator and dispatcher.  The couple moved between Wilmington and Delmar as he was transferred back and forth.  He died in 1945 with 30 years of service to the railroad. 

Florence's great love was music.  She was head of the Delaware Federation of Music Clubs and besides teaching music she traveled extensively going to music contest with young students of hers.  Her final trip was to Miami, Florida in 1955.

 while in Miami she was stricken by a brain hemorrhage while in her hotel room, she never gained consciousness.

above 1947

Florence and Norman never had children but they did raise a foster child, Marie Elizabeth Potts.  Marie was the daughter of Charles E Potts and Marie Elizabeth Swift Potts.  At some point in the 1920s Charles and Marie marriage ceased and the girl came to live with Florence and Norman.  Florence took her on the numerous trips she made for the Federation of music and piano contests.  The mother, also named  Marie, would marry again in 1942 to a Mr. Estabrooks.  Marie Estabrook worked for the PRR and retired from it.   The daughter, Marie, would marry Charles Acker and they would live in Camden New Jersey. Charles and Marie Potts also had a son, Charles E Potts Jr, who as an adult would live in Columbia, South Carolina.