Florence Elizabeth Strohmer, a retired nurse who helped run a family farm in Woodstock, died of lung disease Monday at Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown. She was 77.

Florence Vesper was born in Essex and spent most of her childhood on her family's produce farm. She was a 1946 graduate of Kenwood High School and then received a nursing degree from the old Church Home and Hospital. She worked as a registered nurse at Johns Hopkins and St. Agnes hospitals, and later at what was then Baltimore County General Hospital. She retired in 1996.

"She was an independent woman," said her daughter Brenda Strohmer of Woodstock. "She was the rock of the family."

Mrs. Strohmer helped manage the family-owned farm and was a club leader with the Baltimore County 4-H program. She was also active in the Baltimore County Farm Bureau.

She enjoyed trips and entertaining the many guests who visited her farm.

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Roman Catholic Church, 10800 Old Court Road in Woodstock.

Survivors include her husband of nearly 47 years, George J. Strohmer Sr.; two sons, George "Bud" Strohmer Jr. and Richard Strohmer; and another daughter, Marian "Dee" Strohmer, all of Woodstock. She is also survived by a sister, Eileen Hoppert of Ocala, Fla.

Jacques Kelly