Diane Boak
Diane Boak, 56, of Bradenton and formerly of Anna Maria Island, died Jan. 15.
She was born Diane Naeher Sept. 14, 1967, in Lowell, Massachusetts, and moved to Holmes Beach in 1968.
A celebration of life will be 6-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at a family residence.
Ms. Boak is survived by daughter Kayla; sisters Deborah Bradley and Denise Harrington of Bradenton; brothers Donald Naeher of Sarasota and Daniel Naeher of Bradenton, Douglas Naeher of Holmes Beach, David Naeher of Bradenton and Dana Naeher of Valrico; and four grandchildren.
Edna Davis Erven
Edna “Skeety” Davis Erven, 80, a 46-year resident of Holmes Beach, died Jan. 31, after an extended illness.
A New Jersey native, she grew up in New City, New York, and at age 17, entered St. Anne’s Episcopal Convent in Arlington Heights, Massachusetts. She left the convent in 1967 and moved to Chicago, where she earned a degree in nursing from Loyola University.
She became a registered nurse before she moved to Anna Maria Island in 1978, initially living on a sailboat at the former Cobbs Marina. She also was a certified occupational health nurse.
She worked at HCA Florida Blake Hospital, then known as Blake Medical Center; Tropicana; RISCORP; Coast Occupational Health Services; and Neighborly Senior Services. She also worked part-time at the Publix bakery and as a florist.
She was known as “The Mayor of Avenue C” in the neighborhood where she resided for the past 28 years in a bright blue house. She was an avid if somewhat eccentric gardener and collector of garden ornaments. She also sang with the Main Hatch Motley Sea Shanty Singers. She loved reading, camping, cats and traveling in her RV. She also enjoyed many train excursions and cruises.
This past fall, for her 80th birthday, more than 40 friends and family members gathered to celebrate and were joined by Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, who presented her with a commemorative coin for her decades of community service on AMI.
A service will be offered at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, for friends and family at the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation, 4408 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach. Memorials may be made to the Friends of the Island Library, Holmes Beach.
Mrs. Erven is survived by her sister, Lorraine Davis of Houston, eight nieces and nephews and dozens of cousins.
Winifred Strange
Winifred Strange, 78, of Bradenton and formerly Anna Maria Island, died Jan. 25 at her home.
She was born March 5, 1945, in Red Bluff, California, to Verdon Earl Strange and Winifred Arabella Rose, and raised with an older sister, Catherine Evleshin, who nicknamed her “Pinky.”
After graduating from California’s Chico State College, she began graduate studies in psychology at the University of Minnesota and earned her doctorate there in 1972.
There, as a faculty member, she met her great love and research collaborator, Dr. James J. Jenkins. They married at her mother’s California home Sept. 6, 1978, and his children, Bob, Lynn, and Chris, became her family. They brought great maternal joy to her, as did her spiritual grandson, the late Christopher “Chris” Chisolm, to whom she was “MomMom,” and his daughter.
Professionally, Dr. Strange had many passions and pursuits. In academics, she was heralded as a pioneer in cross-language speech perception research, focusing on the influence of linguistic experience and perceptual training on non-native speech perception. She served as a faculty member at the U-Minnesota, the University of South Florida and the City University of New York-Graduate Center, mentoring more than 50 doctoral students and young colleagues.
She was known as a strong advocate for women in science and was honored by the Acoustical Society of America with its rare silver medal for “contributions to the advancement of science, engineering or human welfare through the application of acoustic principles.”
As she sought to balance work-life passions, she continued a lifelong interest in dance, opening Monarch Arts dance studio in her later years. She also delighted in opera and old movies and tap danced throughout her lifetime.
Solstice parties were celebrated on her beachfront deck or condo lanai and she practiced meditation with a tightly bonded group.
As an active Democrat, she was known to shake a fist at injustice, raise a hand for equality and wrap her arms around all in her expansive group of friends, colleagues and students.
A celebration of life will be at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 3, at Monarch Arts at the Dance Alliance, 862 62nd St Circle, #103, Bradenton. Memorials may be made to the studio to establish a dance scholarship fund for children from low-income homes or to the Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Program, CUNY-Graduate Center.
Dr. Strange is survived by her sister, Catherine and husband Nathaniel Pratcher, their children and grandchildren; cousins Fred and Richard Strange and Stephanie Meineke; stepchildren Lynn Jenkins and Christopher Jenkins and their children and grandchildren, as well as those of the late Robert Jenkins; and spiritual great-granddaughter, Eliza Chisolm, mother Kristine; and many friends.