“Phyllis was born in 1929 to Harriet (Hattie) and Herbert Ballou in Minneapolis, Minn. Her father managed a lumber yard in Stone Lake, Wisconsin — her grandfather was a blacksmith there. Her mother was a great homemaker —a great cook and loved to knit. Dolores met Phyllis when they were freshmen at Spooner Union High School. They became best friends from then on (Dolores lives in Silverton). Phyllis and Dolores took a trip to Superior with the debate team in a ’37 Chev. Dolores spent many weekends at Phyllis’s home — making the trip on the school bus. Mrs. Ballou made the girls pluck a chicken for one of their Sunday meals- they bonded over that one! Growing up, Phyllis had a black spaniel dog named Cinder. It may have been Cinder that chased a skunl under the front porch of their lake cabin and then promptly came running into the house after getting sprayed. Phyllis was a dog-lover all of her life - she had two dogs in a row named “Snoopy” after the Charles Schultz comic strip “Peanuts”. “Muffy” was given to her as a gift from Phil. And their last dog was “Perky” who literally lived up to her name and then some. Phyllis also enjoyed the love and friendship of cats. “Kitty", “Pearl”, and “Nip and Tuck” adored her and she them. When Dolores and Phyllis graduated high school in 1946, they went on to be college roommates at Superior State Teacher's College from 1946-1950. They lived in Crown Heart Hall and Phyllis’s mother made the girls matching bedspreads. Phyllis met Bob Nestel at college and they married after college. He was in the insurance business. They moved to Chicago and possibly Indianapolis - that marriage did not last and they divorced not long after they married in the early 60‘s. They had moved to Portland by that time and after the divorce she and her mother lived together”. Phyllis met Shirley Taylor, a widow with a son Jim, and they moved to Lincoln City where Phyllis taught school. She taught in Waldport and drove the coast highway between Lincoln City for many years. She moved back to Portland and continued in her teaching career. She taught in the David Douglas school district (Floyd Light Middle School) and the North Clackamas school district (Ickes and Rowe Middle Schools). She eventually became the TAG coordinator for the NC District. In her earlier years of teaching, she started a tour group to take middle-schoolers on an east coast historical adventure. She did this for 17 years, the last of which was with her new husband, Phil. Their honeymoon get-away was with a bus load (s) of eighth graders! Phyllis met Phillman Davis when she taught at Rowe Middle School. They married in May of 1977 and were married until his passing in 2011. They were meant for each other — very happily married. They were able to do some traveling to Africa and Europe and enjoyed several Elder Hostels until traveling became too difficult for them. They had a beautiful home in Boring and then moved to Summerplace where Phyllis resided until her passing. Phyllis was also a very spiritual person growing up going to church and then continuing throughout her adult life. She met Terry Kishpaugh and Jim Taylor when they were in her Sunday school class at Errol Heights Methodist Church 60 years ago. She took a break in her teaching career and worked at St.Andrews Presbyterian Church in Christian Education. And then, in her later years became a member, along with Phil, at Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church They were actively involved in the Mariners and one of her latest accomplishments was to be on the Pastor-seeking committee that brought their current pastor, Rev. Brad Busiek, to Smith. She was very proud of this and thoroughly enjoyed the journey. She was also Clerk of Session and was involved as much as she could be with her church family. Phyllis leaves behind many friends and “love” family members who loved her dearly and she will be greatly missed by all whose lives she touched.
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