Obituary of Howard Lester Flood

STOW- Howard Lester Flood, 78, died January 17, 2013. Born in Staten Island, NY, he had lived in Stow since 1977, prior to that for 16 years in Cuyahoga Falls.  Howard was a U.S. Army Airborne veteran of the Korean Conflict, serving from May 1952 to December 1957 and was one of the first Green Berets with the 10th Special Forces Group.  Howard joined First National Bank of Akron in 1963 and served in various capacities, including Senior Vice President and Senior Lender.  In 1983 he became President and CEO of First National Bank of Akron and First Bancorporation of Ohio (now FirstMerit Bank).  In 1996 he retired as Chairman of the Board and Director of First Bancorporation of Ohio.  A  member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Cuyahoga Falls and Holy Family Catholic Church in Stow, he was actively involved in his community, resulting in many honors, awards and recognitions.  Howard loved to fly and owned his own plane, but his greatest love was that for his family. Preceded in death by his parents Edward H. Flood and Julia C. Lawson and siblings Mary MacDonald, John Flood and William Flood, he is survived by his wife of almost 55 years Georgiana “Gena” (nee Rusinko); daughter Elizabeth Ann (Joseph Robert) Gezzar of Stow; grandchildren Kyla Madison and Owen Howard; sisters Edith Bishop of N. Ft. Myers, FL, LaVerne Pfleging of St. Louis, MO; Julia (Ron) Hanzl of Cape Coral, FL; brother-in-law and sister-in-law George and Elaine Rusinko; many nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank Howard’s caregivers from Anna’s Home Health Care, the staff at Emeritus at Stow and Howard’s very faithful visitors. Friends are invited to Redmon Funeral Home for visitation Sunday 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 PM.  Mass of the Christian Burial Monday 10 AM at Holy Family Catholic Church.  PLEASE MEET AT THE CHURCH. Burial Monday 2 PM at Calvary Cemetery in Lorain with military honors provided by the U.S. Army. Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the charity of your choice.