Richard D. "Don" Flowers, a retired Randallstown florist who had been chairman of the Northwest Hospital Foundation, died July 15 of renal failure at his home in Ephrata, Pa. He was 86.
The son of Emory H. Flowers, a florist, and Etta Elizabeth Cadle Flowers, who grew flowers and produce, Richard Donald Flowers was born and raised on his family's Randallstown farm.
Mr. Flowers was a 1946 graduate of Catonsville High School and served in the Marine Corps from 1946 to 1948, serving as commissary manager at the Marine Corps station in Cherry Point, N.C.
He returned to Baltimore and attended what was then Baltimore Junior College from 1948 to 1950.
He established Don's Flowers in Randallstown in 1950 and Liberty Wholesale Florist in 1975. He retired and closed Don's Flowers two years ago, family members said.
In addition to the Randallstown shop, Mr. Flowers had Don's Flowers shops in Bel Air and Govans and the Long Green Valley Florist in Jacksonville.
From 1971 to 1980, he had served on the national board of the Florist Transworld Delivery Association. From 1974 to 1975, he was vice president of the FTDA; he was its president from 1975 to 1976.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he had held several positions with the International Floral Network, including vice president of its board in 1980.
Mr. Flowers was a trustee and former chairman of the American Floral Endowment and served as president of the Southern Retail Florist Association in 1986.
He was a trustee of the Baltimore County Hospital Foundation and was its president from 1971 to 1972. He was a member of the board of the old Baltimore County General Hospital, which later became Northwest Hospital, and chaired its board from 1994 to 1996.
He was a member for 40 years of the Randallstown Lions Club, where he was the organization's president for three years. He was a member for 15 years of the Fairfield Lions Club.
He had a private pilot's license, was a square dance caller and enjoyed playing pinochle.
"Until 10 years ago, he called square dances from Washington to Aberdeen," said his daughter, Donna Lynne Flowers-Doyle of New Holland, Pa.
He was a lifelong member of Mount Olive United Methodist Church in Randallstown. From 1933 to 2008, he attended Mount Hope United Methodist Church in Fairfield, Pa.; from 2008 until this year, he attended St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Terre Hill, Pa.
His wife of 63 years, the former Julia L. "Judy" Frazier, died in 2013.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Mount Olive United Methodist Church, 5115 Old Court Road, Randallstown.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a son, Lawrence Gregory Flowers of Randallstown; a sister, Janet Flowers Ramsey of Baltimore; 12 grandchildren; and 24 great-grandchildren.