Florence Elizabeth Halligan

West Roxbury, Massachusetts native, Florence Elizabeth (Jacobs) Halligan, passed away peacefully on June 28, 2021, in Huntington Beach, California. She died of natural causes at the age of 79. Florence was called “Flo” by most of her relatives, but after decades of disliking her given name, she decided to go by “Lori,” a name that much better suited her bubbly, fun-loving, and easygoing personality.

Flo was a real character. A gifted artist, she also enjoyed writing poetry and songs. She attended Roslindale High School and the Vesper George School of Art in Boston. In 1957, she was chosen as “Miss Blue Jeans” in a radio contest coinciding with the opening of the Debbie Reynolds film, Tammy and the Bachelor. Growing up, Flo spent summers at the family cottage in Houghs Neck looking right across the bay to Downtown Boston. She loved boats and the water, and was eventually drawn to the sunshine and stars of Los Angeles. She and Russell Halligan of Roslindale eloped to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1965 and immediately settled in Santa Monica, California. They started their family about a year later.

Florence is survived by her son, William “Billy” Halligan, Esq. of Huntington Beach, CA and daughter, Lynda Halligan Olsen, MFA of Laguna Beach, CA. In Flo’s final days, she told her daughter, “I just want to go back to when you and Billy were little.” She has two young granddaughters, Paige and Taylor, who are carrying on her legacy of laughter, art and music, and is also remembered by her in-laws, nieces, nephews and their children.

Flo loved Hollywood and was thrilled to follow in Gidget’s footsteps, moving to Malibu in the 1970s. She worked for a time as a movie extra and was as happy as can be hanging out on set all day with other creative types. Over the years, she talked about her dream of moving to Rockport, MA, a seaside town known for being an active art colony. Flo had a lot of favorites - shopping, sleeping, cats, chatting, collecting, knick knacks, coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts, television, radio and country music. She was a huge fan of Elvis Presley, Roger Miller, Glen Campbell, and Mac Davis, to name a few.

The daughter of William and Lydia Jacobs, Florence was born on August 4, 1941, the fourth of the Jacobs kids, which would eventually become five. Her youngest sister, Marilyn Jacobs of Quincy, MA, passed away just shy of a year before Flo on July 7, 2020. In recent years, Florence had lost her brother, William F.C. Jacobs, Jr. of Westwood, MA, as well as her sister, Valerie Kroon of Pembroke, MA, and she had never quite recovered from the passing of her sister, Nancy Jacobs, in 1983. The two lived relatively close to each other in Southern California and were pretty much inseparable.  

Florence will be laid to rest with many of her loved ones at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. In her final conversation with her granddaughters, she said, “Never say goodbye, say toodaloo,” something she had been telling her kids their whole lives. May she find peace as she rejoins her Jacobs family. Their home was always filled with love and laughter, and we are sure they’re cracking each other up in Heaven. Love you, Mom. We will see you again. Until then, toodaloo.

You may send online condolences to the Halligan children at Lynda@HalliganEntertainment.com.

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