Flora M. Vare
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image =
| name = Flora M. Vare
| caption =
| state_senate = Pennsylvania
| district = 1st
| term_start = 1925
| term_end = 1928
| predecessor = William Scott Vare
| successor = Lawrence E. McCrossin
| party = Republican
| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|7|26}}
| birth_place = New London, Connecticut, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1962|5|27|1873|7|26}}
| death_place = Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| resting_place = West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| residence = Ardmore, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| spouse = Edwin Vare
| religion =
| website =
}}
Flora Morris Vare (July 26, 1873 – May 27, 1962) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 1st District from 1925 to 1928. She was married to Edwin Vare; he and his brothers William Scott Vare and George Vare were known as the "Dukes of South Philadelphia" for their decades-long political control of the South Philadelphia ward leadership.{{cite web |title=Closed for Business |url=http://digitalhistory.hsp.org/bnktr/person/william-scott-vare |website=www.digitalhistory.hsp.org |accessdate=January 4, 2019}} She was the first woman to serve in the Pennsylvania Senate.{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Mart |title=The Almanac of Women and Minorities in Politics 2002 |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=0-8133-9817-7 |page=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GpRXDwAAQBAJ&q=flora+m.+vare&pg=PT259 |access-date=January 5, 2019}}
Early life
Career
Vare was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the 1st Senatorial District for the seat vacated by her brother in law William Scott Vare and served from 1925 to 1928.{{cite web |title=Senate Members "V" |url=http://staffweb.wilkes.edu/harold.cox/legis/SV.html |website=www.staffweb.wilkes.edu |accessdate=January 5, 2019}}
She proposed legislation for a Pennsylvania constitutional amendment to provide everyone over the age of 65 with a dollar a day pension, however the legislation was not passed.{{cite web |title=Governor John Stuchell Fisher |url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/governors/1876-1951/john-fisher.html |website=www.phmc.state.pa.us |accessdate=January 5, 2019}}
She lost reelection to Lawrence E. McCrossin and the state senate seat that had been held by a member of the Vare family since 1894.{{cite book |last1=Weigley |first1=Russell Frank |title=Philadelphia: A 300 Year History |date=1982 |publisher=WW Norton & Company |location=New York - London |isbn=0-393-01610-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/philadelphia300y00weig/page/585 585] |url=https://archive.org/details/philadelphia300y00weig |url-access=registration |quote=flora vare. |access-date=January 5, 2019}}
She died in Lankenau Medical Center and was interred at the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.{{cite web |title=West Laurel Hill Cemetery & Funeral Home Records |url=https://westlaurelhill.com/webcemeteries/records |website=www.westlaurelhill.com |access-date=October 1, 2021}}
Personal life
Flora was married to Edwin Vare and her sister Ida Morris was married to Edwin's brother, William Scott Vare.{{cite book |last1=Dubin |first1=Murray |title=South Philadelphia: Mummers, Memories and the Melrose Diner |date=1996 |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=1-56639-429-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/southphiladelphi0000dubi/page/86 86] |url=https://archive.org/details/southphiladelphi0000dubi |url-access=registration |access-date=January 5, 2019}}
References
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Category:20th-century American women politicians
Category:20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Category:Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery
Category:Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators