Reser Funeral Home
Phyllis Irene Weaver Howard closed her worldly book of life June 25, 2023 at Lincoln Community Care Center, Lincoln, MO and began a new chapter of adventure in her Heavenly Father’s Realm. Her Celebration of Life will be August 26, 2023 at 11a.m, First United Methodist Church, 154 W. Washington St, Warsaw, MO. Pastor Loren Whetsell Officiating and Reser Funeral Home assisting the service.
Phyllis was born May 18, 1925, the first daughter and third child of Arthur Edmund Weaver and Susan Floretta "Susie Florence" Burch in a small log cabin in the “middle of nowhere”, Crowing Township, Hubbard County, Minnesota. She was their first daughter and third child and weighed under five pounds. She was a plucky baby and a survivor, two traits along with her faith, love, forgiveness, positivity, curiosity, intelligence, perseverance, generosity, funniness, friendliness and kindness were the hallmarks of her life.
Phyllis married in her teens in Montana. She lost an infant child, Jane Phyllis Reed. The brief marriage ended in divorce and she moved back to Washington alone. Phyllis worked as a Rosie the Riveter in World War II. In 1947, she married John "Jack" Alfred Swart. They had three children, one son and two daughters, Stephen Wilbur, Joanne Rose and June Phyllis. Joanne Rose, was born with a critical heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot, and passed away following open heart surgery in 1959. Her husband Jack passed away in 1974. Phyllis took evening college courses, continued to write, and even learned to Belly Dance and bravely joined in a few charity performances. In 1991, Phyllis remarried Robert Bidwell and was widowed in 1992. Phyllis retired and moved to be near her daughter June's family in Wisconsin. When she moved to Warsaw, Missouri with June and JC Sterling, they joined the Damsite Dancers. Phyllis met the greatest love of her life dancing, Charles "Charlie" Howard. When they married in 1999 at the Methodist Church, the sanctuary was filled with costumed square dancers, who danced with the new couple in the Fellowship Hall after the dinner; and JC, an inspiring Caller called the dances! Charlie was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2002 and Phyllis cared for him at home until condition worsened to the point that he entered the VA Home in Cameron, MO, until his passing in September 2011. Phyllis moved into a lake home community a block away from June and JC in 2005. She lived at home alone, but was very active with her family and her church, First United Methodist of Warsaw. She volunteered for Sunday School Teacher, VBS worker, church office, Kids's Connection, story teller and Bible story actress. She went on mission trips and labored along side other Volunteers In Mission in storm damaged communities. She loved giving tours and telling and retelling the stories one summer as a dayworker for the Benton County Museum at the old high school building on the hill. Phyllis was a member of local Red Hat Ladies and TOPS. Phyllis suffered a debilitating stroke in 2014. Her granddaughter Jennifer and family then graciously welcomed Phyllis to their home in Warsaw. Later daughter June and husband Jay having sold their home and bought a home on one level, invited Phyllis to live with them. In February 2017, Phyllis made Lincoln Community Care Center (LCCC) her last home. She enjoyed many visits from her family and church friends!
Phyllis had always enjoyed reading and writing and entering contests. In the 1950's when Jingles on the radio were the main source of advertising, she won several contests for her Jingles that brought in real money, luxury items and even a vacation that she shared with her family. She had a career at Sears of Las Vegas, going from just Christmas help in the Catalog Department to Catalog Supervisor, retiring 30 years later. She loved square dancing, along fishing and boating in Missouri. She often “bragged” of the 56 pound spoonbill that she caught while out snagging with her son-in-law, Jay and "Bonus Son" Pete Wolf. She has had allot of poems and several stories published. Her account of Charlie’s battle with Alzheimer’s was accepted and printed in the book about Alzheimer’s victims in Missouri. She went to Washington DC as a Delegate to testify at the National Forum on Alzheimer's. She was published in the Pacific Coaster, Reminisce Magazine, Reader's Digest, among others and wrote local interest stories for the Antigo Daily Journal in Wisconsin. She also was a reporter for the Damsite Dancers, TOPS and VFW Ladies Auxiliary and wrote upbeat articles for the Lincoln and Cole Camp nursing homes. Phyllis authored two books about her life for her family.
As a child, Phyllis’s favorite readings were Fairy Tales from the Wonder Books and true adventure travel books by Richard Halliburton. After her children were grown, Phyllis’s own fairy tale dreams became fact as she indulged in seeing the world! Phyllis visited over 40 countries, numerous islands, crossed both major oceans, and “sailed the more than proverbial seven seas” on five continents. She loved to say with a smile: "Not bad for a poor little girl from Minnesota!" She also enjoyed 45 of the 50 USA states. The Good Lord made this earth so lovely that a favorite is not possible but the old saying “There is no place like home” holds true. She is greatly missed by her family, friends, her Care Givers at LCCC and her church family! The week of her death, LCCC staff, one after another came in to tell her daughter how she had always generously given of herself to listen to and encourage them. She always believed in "looking at the good side" of every situation and never understood why people said "Why me?" when bad things happened. She would say "Why not me? I can't and won't wish that God chose someone else to lose a child, or a spouse, or a job, or any bad thing. The Bible says "the rain falls on the just and the unjust."
Phyllis is survived by: son Stephen (Ruth) Swart of Northern Virginia and daughter June (Jassie) Sterling of Warsaw; six grandchildren: Amy (Scott) Bailey of Illinois, Jennifer (Dan) Bessert, of Oklahoma Ann (Scott) Tyler of Arizona, Kenneth Sterling of Lincoln; Lisa (Ed) Gibbs and Lori (Joey) Sanchez of Idaho, 18 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren and one brother Lewis (Flossie) Zechmeir, of Washington State. Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents: Arthur and Susan Weaver; her stepfather, Albert Zechmeir; Daughters: Jane Reed, Joanne Swart; Husbands: John Swart, Robert Bidwell, Charles Howard; Siblings: Wayne (Lee) Weaver (killed during WWII at Anzio Beach, Italy), Vernon and Joseph Weaver, Elinor Weaver Rieker, Barbara Zechmeir Bible, Pauline (Patsy) Zecmeir Johnson, Robert and Roger Zechmeir.
