Flory was born in 1923, to a family that could trace its roots back to the time when the Jews were exiled from Spain in 1492. She spent her early years in the Bosnian village of Vlasenica, where she learned songs from her Nona (grandmother). She, her parents and one uncle were the only survivors of a large extended family. Toward the end of WWII she married an American GI, Harry Jagoda, and ended up living in Northern Virginia. Later in life she began to compose new songs in Ladino (also known as Judeo-Spanish) and to create arrangements of traditional songs she remembered from her youth. She was a recipient of  a National Heritage Fellowship award in 2002, performed extensively in the US and Europe, and taught her songs to many who sought her out, including Trio Sefardi. Two members of Trio Sefardi, Susan Gaeta and Howard Bass, performed and toured with Flory for fifteen years.