Florence Cayne, 88

Supported Jewish charities and the Republican Party

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Philanthropic and filled with a zest for life, Florence Cayne was a precocious 17-year-old who was called “Babe” by her family and earned a pilot’s license and enjoyed “buzzing” her grandmother’s house in Rockaway.

Known as “Florrie” to her friends, she and her husband Dan were very active supporting Jewish organizations and the Republican Party. During the 1960s, she served as publicity chair for the Nassau County Republican Club.
Cayne, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, died in Delray Beach, Fla. on Jan. 8. She was 88.

Born in Brooklyn on Jan. 5, 1928, she graduated Samuel J. Tilden High School in that New York City borough in 1946. Florrie married high school sweetheart Dan Cayne.

“Florrie, as she was called by everyone else, was a high spirited lady, who loved her life and family,” said Steven Cayne, one of her two sons.

The couple moved from Brooklyn to North Woodmere in 1961, and then to Hewlett Harbor 15 years later. The Caynes retired to Delray Beach. Dan died in 2009, the same year the couple were honored for their philanthropic efforts by the United Jewish Appeal.

Cayne also enjoyed playing golf, mah jong and canasta in her later years, Steven said. The Board of Governors and members of the Delaire Country Club in Delray Beach mourned her death and extended their “heartfelt sympathy” to her family.

In addition to Steven, Cayne is survived by son Carl, five grandchildren Bari Stefanie, Amanda, Gregory and Lauren and four great-grandchildren, Caroline, Juliet, Violet and Levi.

A graveside service was held on Jan. 12. Cayne was interred next to Dan in their family plot at Knollwood Park Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.