Florence P. “Pat” Bouder

May 10, 2025

Florence P. “Pat” Bouder, of Warwick Township, passed away at home on the afternoon of Saturday, May 10, 2025. At her side were her husband, Ron, and their son, Ron Jr., as she took her final breath. Pat passed away on the exact day she and Ron were married May 10, 1969, celebrating 56 years of marriage.

Born in Elkton, Maryland, Pat was the daughter of Leslie Carl Paris and Dorothy Jean Schwebel Paris. She graduated from Manheim Township High School.

Following graduation, Pat married Ron and moved with him to the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he was studying Automotive Diesel Mechanics. Pat began her first job in housekeeping in the small housing trailers known as “sardine cans.” They were small but they were able to live together and begin their family.

When Ron was deployed to Vietnam, Pat returned to Lancaster to be near family. Their son, Ron Jr., was born while Ron Sr. was still overseas. Remarkably, Pat and Ron were able to speak for five minutes after their son’s birth through a Mars Radio communication HAM radio connection relayed through California to a phone line in Lancaster.

Pat and Ron first met through a Citizen Band (CB) radio connection, thanks to a mutual contact known as “Bumpy,” a quadriplegic radio operator in Lancaster who helped bring them together.

With her husband’s help, Pat later studied Morse code and passed both the technical and regulatory exams to earn her HAM Radio Technician license, which was no small feat, as the test was administered at the FCC office in Philadelphia. She later upgraded to a General Class license. Pat was a proud member of the Red Rose Repeater Association Radio Club, where she served as editor and publisher of the club newsletter and directed the weekly communications net. Long before the invention of cell phones, she and Ron communicated via HAM radio from home to car as early as the 1980s.

Pat was also passionate about genealogy. She spent many evenings researching and building family trees for friends and loved ones. She was a member of “Find a Grave” and valued not only discovering family connections but also learning about where ancestors lived and were laid to rest, using census reports and cemetery records as a guide.

Pat was a loving mother and an excellent cook. She enjoyed boating and fishing during earlier years in the Delaware and Indian River Inlet areas. She was artistic and creative, she explored folk art paintings, creating many hand-painted, country-style pieces and she also enjoyed knitting and needlepoint.

Pat volunteered at Rothsville Elementary School, assisting students with reading and English while her son attended there. She also enjoyed bowling in a league at Lancaster Lanes and was active in the Grace Church “MOMS” program, where mothers gathered for fellowship during the week.

Pat was a loving and devoted aunt. Family meant the world to her, and she held close bonds with her nieces, nephews, and their children.

She is survived by her mother, Dorothy Paris, age 97; her sister Josephine, wife of Roger Schneider, of Willow Street, PA; her half-sister, Amber Jean Paris; and her half-brother, David Richard Paris, both of Elkton, MD.

A funeral service for Pat will be held on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 11 am at Grace Community Church, 212 Peach Bottom Road, Willow Street, PA 17584. Family and friends are invited to a time of visitation from 10 to 11am, prior to the service. A luncheon and time of fellowship will follow. Pat will be laid to rest at Conestoga Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating in Pats honor to a charity of your choice.