Miriam Alice Folk, 85; gardener ran Reading Terminal flower stand

Miriam Alice Folk, 85, an avid gardener who ran a flower stand in the Reading Terminal Market for 14 years, died of a heart ailment Nov. 26 at home in Newtown, Bucks County.

Mrs. Folk opened Miriam's Market Flowers in 1985. One of her specialties was growing orchids.

The small stand quickly became "a beautiful and popular stop in the market," said her daughter Ann Folk. Mrs. Folk sold the business and retired in 1999.

The former Miriam Clark was born in Adams County, Ill., and grew up on her grandparents' farm, where she learned to love plants and gardening.

After attending Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., she moved to Chicago and met Edwin H. Folk III. They married in 1956.

The couple moved to Youngstown, Ohio, in the 1950s before settling in Philadelphia in 1962.

The two made their home in 1972 in Bryn Gweled Homesteads, a cooperative community in Southampton, and adopted their first Sealyham terrier.

They liked the breed so much they did some breeding, and also showing, of their dogs at the local level.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Folk is survived by three other daughters, Cathy Folk-Williams, Ellison Folk, and Emily Smith; a son, Edwin H. Folk IV; and 11 grandchildren.

Her husband died in 2010.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, at Friends Village, 331 Lower Dolington Rd., Newtown.