Grammy Phylis

 

I spent a great many Sunday’s visiting my grandmother Phylis but it turns out that I actually don’t know a great deal about her. I know a little bit about her life in the years that I spent with her but I didn’t get to grow up with her in my life and once she was there I never thought to ask her about her past.

Phylis Myrna Harvey was born May, 13^th, 1925 in Des Moines, Iowa. Her mother Blanche Newville would’ve been 26 at the time and her father Albert Harvey was 32. The story goes that Albert left in 1930 but a 1931 census shows them still together, either way, Phylis would’ve been young to not have her father around anymore. I wasn’t able to find any records of him after that. Within months though Phylis has a step-father and new siblings. Her Maternal grandparents were still alive and living in Northern Iowa which I think they visited often from the stories my uncle has told. I’m not sure about her father's side of the family.

I have after my father contracted Covid, found out that Phylis was keeping a secret. My father's bio dad was not who we thought it was. That was quite a shock to me and it actually made me upset with her for a bit, even though she wasn't alive anymore for me to talk to her about.  

So, she had a child with someone who is immediately shipped off to war and she's alone with an infant. I can’t imagine what it was like to be a single parent at such a young age. 

She had my uncle John in 1949 and they lived with her parents for quite some time. Phylis worked for some time at Cargil and retired from there. When she started I’m not sure.

I know that she was often in the caretaker role, many people counted on her when they were ill or dying. My grandfather had a few strokes and she also took care of her dying sister.

Phylis had a passion for collecting Cabbage Patch Dolls, so much so that she had a whole room dedicated to them. She also enjoyed crossword puzzles and watching Baseball. Phylis and Bob had a place they wintered in in Florida and I know that she enjoyed going there until she was too sick to travel.

She lost her 3 year-long battle with Cancer in 2011.