Phyllis Ann Orient

Phyllis Ann Rittman Orient was born on March 31, 1925 in St. Joseph, Missouri. Her father Paul Rittman was a baker, a foreman at Rainbo Bakery in St. Joe. Her mother Elsie Cox Rittman worked as a seamstress at R.L. McDonald shirt factory. The history of St. Joseph as a hub for Western migration was not lost on Phyllis. When World War II began and the whole country was in an upheaval of change, the family left Missouri and headed West. Feeling confined by the small Midwestern town atmosphere of St. Joe, Phyllis was joyful in the front seat of the old 1939 Chevy, squashed between parents, worldly goods in the back seat. By the time the family reached Phoenix, Phyllis was a died-in-the-wool Westerner. Driving down Van Buren Street, Paul stopped at Rainbo Bakery and was immediately signed on. A little further along the road, they found a rental apartment, which was almost impossible during wartime. Phyllis spent her last year of high school at Phoenix Union High, and Paul was soon transferred to Tucson Rainbo as superintendent. Phyllis enrolled in the University of Arizona and worked as an assistant in a physician’s office. At age 19, she met her handsome, blue-eyed, air force flyboy William Orient at a church social. Their 10-day courtship was continued by letter during his year overseas. Those letters must have been spectacular because not a minute after VE Day, Bill was back at her doorstep, and their 66-year marriage began. The two raised four daughters and Phyllis worked with Bill to found and operate Aluminum Materials Co., a general contracting business that was responsible for numerous iconic commercial and residential buildings around Tucson. Phyllis, always with a great talent and intuition in the medical field, enthusiastically worked as Office Manager at her daughter Jane’s medical practice and then for the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons. "Ann" was the voice and ear for AAPS for thousands of doctors and patients throughout the U.S. She happily continued this position for nearly 40 years, well into her nineties. Meanwhile, Phyllis also played a large role in the lives of her grandchildren. During her last three years, when her tremendous strength was failing, her daughter Ruth and grandchildren Emily and Jeremy, joined her in her home to give her round-the-clock care. Phyllis died peacefully at home on Sunday evening, December 11, 2022 with family all around, marked by a blaze of Christmas lights in her yard with a responding wild sunrise and rainbow in the morning sky. “See you in the morning, first thing, you know it, right? Right.”

Phyllis is preceded in death by her parents, her brother Paul Rittman, Jr., her husband William Orient, and a daughter Sandra Orient. She is survived by four daughters Jane, Susan, Betsy and Ruth; seven grandchildren Paul, Jonathan, Jeremy, Eve, Noah, Emily, and William; and ten great grandchildren Cameron, Neil, Aaron, Alexander, Adam, Hector, Rosalind, Raphaella, Charlotte, and Charlie.

A Memorial is planned for spring.