Ferolynn Ellen (Regan) Robertson
Born in May of 1937 in Newburyport, MassachusettsPassed February 22, 2025, in Rockledge, Florida
Ferolynn Ellen (Regan) Robertson a Melbourne resident since 1957, daughter of Marion Edwina (Thompson) and Thomas J. Regan, she was born in May of 1937 in Newburyport, Massachusetts. During her middle teen years the family including her her parents and younger sister, moved south to Sarasota, Florida.
She passed away quietly on the morning of February 22, 2025, in Rockledge, Florida at the age of 87 years old.
Ferolynn lived a rich and colorful life and was married to her high school sweetheart Samuel J. Robertson, Jr. for 62 years until his death in 2019. They moved to Melbourne (Lincoln Avenue) the week after they were married in June of 1957. She was a licensed beautician and worked at Jeannette’s salon on New Haven Avenue in Downtown Melbourne before they moved to Gainesville in 1960 where Sam finished his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. From there, they temporarily moved out to California before returning to Melbourne in December of 1963 where they spent the next 60 years.
She inherited her love for art from her mother and pride in her Irish roots from her father. She loved to listen to classic and contemporary Irish artists as she recalled from her youth when her grandfather would sit in his rocking chair on Sundays and sing along to the old Irish songs on the radio. For many decades she painted landscapes in oil of old Melbourne homes and landmark buildings in and around Brevard County (Eau Gallie). One of her favorite places to paint was along the waterfronts of Ballard Park and Eau Gallie along the Indian river. She was a student for many years of prominent local artist and friend Mildred Richardson and won several awards for her work, having several on display in the Melbourne Library.
Ferolynn also loved to play tennis at Fee Avenue Park with her girlfriends starting in the early 1970s and playing well into her 40s and 50s. She made sure all of her children took tennis lessons and at least gave the game a try as well. She always encouraged her children to try new things, try new sports, read books, attend concerts and explore international cuisine to expand their horizons beyond the quiet neighborhoods of everyday life in Melbourne.
Once her children were grown, Ferolynn added her love of shelties and would always introduce a new addition to the family to keep them in pairs to avoid them falling prey to boredom or loneliness.
She was a tireless mother driving countless runs to and from band practices, scout meetings, and sporting events for her four children, yet also managed to cook every night so that the family ate together around the kitchen table. She was a wonderful cook and made every meal a delicious event. It was important to her that the family should spend quality time together whenever possible and would remind her children of the importance of this well into their adulthood.
Later in life, Ferolynn traveled the world with her high school sweetheart Sam, whom she met at Lido beach in Sarasota on the west coast of Florida in the mid 1950s where she attended high school. Together, they visited 7 continents and countless countries, often with close friends or as part of a traveling group. She would always bring back some small token or item to share with her children of these adventures. Then as grandchildren arrived, they would create adventures closer to home to spend time with family and close friends and their home became the gathering place to celebrate birthdays and holidays. One special annual destination was to the Highlands of North Carolina and then on to the coastal marshes of Georgetown, South Carolina so she could be with her favorite Irish Twin, her beloved younger sister by a year and a day, Carol Winans.
Ferolynn is survived by her four children Laurie Casey (husband John), David (wife Dani Hopkins), Jennifer Snead (husband Greg), and Susan Ramos (husband Alex) and grandchildren Dana, Dillan, Olivia & Ian along with John’s son Sean and his wife Ashley and their three daughters Madilyn, Reese and McKenna. Also surviving is her brother-In-Law Jerome K. Robertson and his wife Patricia Annabel (Kline) and her three nieces and nephews Michael, Ted and Caitlin (Winans) and her husband Eric Lang.
Though our hearts are saddened by the void left by such an amazing mother, grandmother, wife, daughter, aunt, cousin and sister-in-law, we know and are comforted by the fact that she is once again with her teenage sweetheart and lifelong partner Samuel Jr., with God almighty and once again free of the earthly bounds of age and time and sorrow and illness. Up on high above she is assuredly drinking a pint of Guinness, listening to an old Irish tune while sifting the cool sands of the magnificent beaches of eternity between her toes as the waves roll in before splendid and painterly sunsets. May God Bless you and keep you always mom. With love, your children.
Irish Author: J.R. Shannon – Lullaby a.k.a. Too Ra Loo Ral
Over in Killarney, many years ago
Me Mother sang a song to me in tones so sweet and low,
Just a simple little ditty, in her good old Irish way,
And I’d give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.
[Refrain]
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
Hush, now, don’t you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,
That’s an Irish lullaby.
Oft, in dreams I wander To that cot again,
I feel her arms a huggin’ me As when she held me then.
And I hear her voice a hummin’ To me as in days of yore,
When she used to rock me fast asleep Outside the cabin door.
[Repeat refrain]
