Obituary of Phyllis Winter

Phyllis Ann (Carlson) Winter passed away on November 19, 2009 at her daughter’s home in Rochester, WA, following an extended illness. She was surrounded by her loving family to the end.She was born to Axel and Stella Carlson in Hallock, MN on April 9, 1931, the middle child in a family of 17 children. She grew up in Hallock, attending the local schools and graduated in 1949. She attended college in Bemidji, MN but had to cut her studies short to assist with her father’s illness. In 1955, she married Charles Winter, and together they began a family and worked together to forge a good life for their children. They left Minnesota and lived in Northwestern Montana, Northern Idaho and the Seattle area before finally settling in Rochester, WA in 1977. Phyllis worked as a bookkeeper and homemaker until the children were raised, then returned fulltime to the workforce. She worked the final years of her career for the state of Washington in the State Liquor Control Board and the State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, before finally retiring in March of 1996. Phyllis was preceded in death by her husband Charles. She is survived by sons Richard Winter of Boise, ID and Barry (Kirsten) Winter of Olympia, WA, daughters Valerie (John) Jordan of Kellogg, ID, Debbie (Mike) McGinnis, and Shelly (Rich) Alexander of Rochester, WA. She is also survived by five brothers and seven sisters, six grandchildren; Jennifer, Nicole, Matthew, Hayley, McKenzie and William, two great-grand children; Jordan and Jackson, plus many nieces and nephews. Phyllis found her greatest joy in tending to her family, home and garden, and serving her fellow church members at St. Mark’s Lutheran in Rochester. She was very generous with her time and worked tirelessly with the Rochester food bank and other local charitable organizations until her illness took that from her. She was a loving soul to the very end who greeted friends, family and strangers with a smile and a hug. All of us who loved her will feel a hole in our hearts from her passing. The family requests that memorials be made as donations to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1-800-272-3900. The family would like to extend their thanks to the staff of Sharon Care in Centralia for the respectful and loving care they gave to Phyllis over the final years of her life. Memories and condolences may be left for the family by clicking on "View Guestbook" below.