Florence Kerves Nesbit passed away February 12, 2010, at Memorial Medical Center, Savannah, after a long illness. She was 79. Florence was born June 20, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the daughter of the late Captain and Mrs. John Kerves, originally of Estonia. Soon after her birth, she and her family moved back to Kuressaare, Estonia, where she lived as a small child. In 1935, the family came to Savannah, where she resided for the remainder of her life. Florence was a graduate, with honors, from Savannah High School in 1948. She was graduated from Armstrong Junior College in 1950, receiving the Silver 'A' Award for academic excellence. She then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she became a charter member of Kappa Delta sorority, and was graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1952. While in attendance at Chapel Hill, she met her future husband, the late Emmett G. Nesbit, whom she married on August 16, 1952. They were married for 57 years, until his death. She worked in secretarial positions in Maryland and North Carolina while Emmett served in the United States Army. They returned to Savannah upon his discharge in 1955, where she worked as secretary to the Headmaster of Savannah Country Day School. Florence then settled into a new career as a homemaker, and soon as a wonderful, sweet and caring mother of two children. In the mid-1970's, Florence returned to work, first as secretary to the Superintendent of Schools for Chatham County, and later, as an English teacher with the Savannah-Chatham Public School System. She retired from teaching in 1986. She was a kind, gentle, loving, and thoughtful woman, but above all, a woman devoted to her family. She is survived by her daughter, Pamela Nesbit-Ferris, her husband Charles, and their two children, Walker and Garrison; by her son, Emmett G. Nesbit, Jr., his wife Lori, and their three children, Danielle, Alexander, and Elizabeth; and by her brother John Kerves, Jr., his wife Margaret, and their two children, Nancy Dart, her husband Brian, their three children, Jackson, McCall and Hadden, and Nicholas Kerves. The family will hold a burial service at Bonaventure Cemetery on Tuesday, February 16, at 3:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Savannah Tree Foundation, St. John's Church Episcopal, or to the charity of one's choice.

Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel