Sunday, November 3, 2024
Starts at 4:00 pm (Central time)
Phyllis Brothers, longtime resident of Wichita and Winfield, KS, and more recently of Appleton, WI, passed away peacefully with her family at her side on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at the age of 98.
Phyllis was born July 13, 1926, in Anthony, KS, the sixth of seven children born to Paul and Mary Elizabeth (Lawson) Shidler. When she was three years of age, the family moved to Valley Center, where she attended all twelve grades before graduating in 1944. Her employment included the Valley Center State Bank, the Ford Tractor Company in Wichita as bookkeeper, and 33 years at Wichita State University, most of which was spent as account supervisor in Research Administration.
On November 5, 1950, Phyllis was united in marriage to John D. Schneider, and they welcomed daughter Rebecca by adoption in April of 1959. They made their home in Wichita before John preceded her in death on May 15, 1977. On December 15, 1979, she was united in marriage to Kenneth A. Brothers of rural Winfield and continued working for Wichita State University until her retirement in February of 1991.
Phyllis and Kenneth were active members of the Tisdale United Methodist Church, and she sang alto in her various church choirs for 70 years. She was also an avid traveler, visiting such far reaches as Alaska, although she preferred traveling by car throughout the Midwest whenever possible. She was also a lifelong fan of Wichita State athletics, regularly taking in football games and holding season tickets to Shocker basketball for many years. Phyllis made friends easily and could always find a game of bridge or pitch, and also enriched her community as a volunteer for 14 years at William Newton Hospital and as a greeter at the Cowley County Historical Society Museum in Winfield. Due to Kenneth’s declining health, they moved into Cumbernauld Village in Winfield in January of 2007.
In her later years, Phyllis moved closer to her daughter Rebecca in Appleton, WI, where she took great joy in getting to know her three great-grandsons who lovingly called their great-grandmother “G.G.” She will be remembered as a steadfast friend and a listening ear, as well as a thorough and voluminous family historian. Perhaps most of all, Phyllis was unfailingly kind and has been described by those she left behind as “an angel on Earth” more times than we can count.
Those mourning this loss include her daughter Rebecca and husband Mark of Appleton, WI; stepdaughter Patricia Hill and husband Robert of Partridge, KS; grandchildren Erin (Tyler) Sjostrom, Andrew (Kelsey) Cummings and Amy (Aaron) Arvold, as well as great-grandsons Ellis and Theo Sjostrom and William Cummings; and many nieces and nephews. Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents; husbands John and Kenneth; brothers Raymond, Carlyle, Lloyd and John Shidler, and sisters Maxine Wendel and Pauline Shriver. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
A memorial service for Phyllis will be held at 4pm on Sunday, November 3 at Cozine Life Events Center, 11500 E 21st St in Wichita, with her former pastor Byoung Lee presiding.
A memorial has been established in Phyllis' name with Tisdale Methodist Church, 17507 US-160, Winfield, KS 67156.
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Starts at 4:00 pm (Central time)
Cozine Life Events Center
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