By: Dale M. King
BOCA RATON – Florence “Flossy” Keesely turned 98 years of age on April 18. But she isn’t even thinking about that. She’s just completed the complex task of organizing her fourth “Pathway to the Stars” musical program that will be performed April 22 at the Mizner Park Amphitheater.
“I had to put it together myself,” she said, discussing the show – her fourth at the Mizner Park venue.
With a background in show business, Flossy is not only a champion of the arts in Boca Raton, but has also been involved in a number of local charities. She has sponsored countless musical and theatrical performances as well as concerts for young students.
Her many friends can’t say enough about this very special lady who has given of herself for decades.
“She is a very exceptional woman who has given a lot to the community,” said her close friend, Rosemary Krieger. “She is very unique, warm and loving. There aren’t many women like Flossy Keesely. She is beautiful inside and out.”
Another close friend, Doug Crossley, a singer and longtime performer, mainly on Canadian television, said Flossy “has given a lot of people a lot of help.”
“I love her to pieces,” said artist and sculptor Yaacov Heller, who crafted the statue/fountain of Flossy at the entryway to the Mizner Park Amphitheater where she is depicted holding up a star. “She’s just a wonderful, caring human being.”
Heller, who last year added a statue of Flossy’s beloved dog, Schatze, to the fountain/statue, said, “There’s a reason her sculpture is reaching for the stars. Because Flossy has been a star maker,” both with her late husband, Nick, a TV producer in the 1950s and 1960s, and since his passing.
Flossy’s story would fill many pages. While volunteering in hospitals in New Rochelle, N.Y., where she founded hospitality standards that are now used in hospitals around the United States, Flossy developed a profound interest in nonprofit initiatives.
Longtime friend Crossley recalled that in the ‘50s and ‘60s, “advertisers actually controlled the content of TV shows.” He said Nick “loved golf and played with people like Ed Sullivan and Ted Mack, whose program,
‘The Ted Mack Amateur Hour” he produced. He sponsored Guy Lombardo and Jackie Gleason. He discovered Dick Van Dyke and sponsored his show.”
In fact, Flossy said, Rob and Laura Petrie, the characters in Van Dyke’s popular 1960s sitcom, lived in New Rochelle because that’s where Flossy and Nick lived at the time.
In the early 1960s, as the executive VP and head of programming for Lennen & Newell, Nick Keesely bought 11 shows for the networks that drew an average 11.5 million viewers each week. He represented clients such as Lorillard and Colgate-Palmolive.
Crossley said he and Flossy moved to South Florida in the 1970s. She still owns the house on Camino Real where they spent their sunshine years. Nick died in January 1999 at age 87.
Flossy was no stranger to TV, said Crossley. “She was co-host of the very first morning talk show broadcast on the Dumont Network in 1948. That was before NBC, CBS and ABC.”
Her condo is packed with videotapes and DVDs of her productions. She created “Alive and Well,” a variety show geared toward senior citizens in Florida, a program featuring classic oldies and interviews with veteran entertainers and celebrities. She is seeking a sponsor for that program.
Flossy is committed to raising scholarship funds to assist students in pursuing a degree in radio production, television and communications at Lynn University. She strives for excellence in her endeavors, and feels that the most gratifying aspect of her career is helping students to achieve their goals.
She loves her Highland Beach condo, she said, a rooftop unit with exquisite views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Ben and Rosemary Krieger are frequent guest. “We were there on Easter,” said Rosemary. “We talk every day and spend holidays together.”
Heller said Flossy joined the Rotary Club of Boca Raton recently. She is the newest and oldest member.
For the past three years, she produced her “Pathway to the Stars” show in conjunction with the Rotary Club. This year, she has partnered with the city of Boca Raton for the April 22 production.
Heller said the show “is not just a concert. Flossy focuses on local talent and puts them on a big stage.”
Flossy Keesely has fostered and featured talented people, young and old, for a lifetime. Rosemary Krieger calls her “a great lady.”