Mrs. Lorraine Cliett Young

FORT MEADE - Mrs. Lorraine "Skeetchie" Young passed away Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at home surrounded by her family at the age of 94. Mrs. Young was born on July 3, 1921 in Bowling Green, FL to William and Ruth Cole Cliett, and considered herself a Hardee County girl her entire life. She grew up in Bowling Green with one sister and two brothers and enjoyed all the advantages of growing up in a small, close knit community.

Mrs. Young met her husband to be, Tommy Young of Bartow, when she was fifteen and he was seventeen years of age. After graduating from Hardee County High School two years early, she entered Florida Southern College at the young of age sixteen, and Tommy was attending Vanderbilt University in Nashville. During Mrs. Young's tenure at Florida Southern College she was a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and very active in their sports program. She was FSC's women's archery champion.

Mrs. Young's teaching career began when she was twenty, making her nearly the same age of some of her students. She first taught eleven years in Hardee County and concluded her 40 year teaching career in Fort Meade. Mrs. Young taught 9th and 10th grade English for 29 years at Fort Meade High School. All students passing through her class knew they would conjugate verbs and diagram sentences daily. She also believed that all students should be exposed to the classics of English Literature. Her many students still comment on hearing Julius Caesar's death on a long playing record, and they requested that it be played numerous times. Her greatest joy came from watching three generations of students pass through her class and become adults, and enjoyed their visits over the years.
Mrs. Young was very active in community service, dedicating herself to the American Cancer Society. She was named Citizen of the Year in 1982 in recognition for her service to the community. Mrs. Young was a life-long Christian and attended the First United Methodist Church of Bowling Green before her marriage in 1946, and then moved her membership to the First United Methodist Church of Fort Meade. She was a Sunday School teacher, choir member, and active in all areas of the church.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 65 years Tommy Young; parents, William and Ruth Cole Cliett; brothers, James Cliett and William Cliett, Jr.; sister, Ida Mary Addison.

Mrs. Young is survived by her daughters, Kathy Young, Fort Meade, FL, Jamie Harrell and husband Scott, Fort Meade, FL; grandchildren, Elijah Harrell and Owen Harrell, and seventeen nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., Friday, September 25, 2015 at the First United Methodist Church, 135 East Broadway, Fort Meade, FL. Funeral services will follow at 11:00 a.m. in the church sanctuary with Rev. Marion Sortore, Karolyn Nunnallee and Stan Foster officiating. Interment will be in Bowling Green Cemetery, Bowling Green, FL. In lieu of flowers, those wishing, may make contributions to the American Cancer Society or to the First United Methodist Church of Fort Meade Reid Hall Building Fund.

Hancock Funeral Home, Fort Meade, FL 863-285-8171