Phyllis was born on the 11th of October 1923 to Alfie and Theresa, in Plymouth Devon. Her father was a local while her mother was Italian. 
She had six siblings Robert and Dorothy, who both tragically died during an air raid during the war and Winnie, Barbara, Rosie and Jack, of whom she was the eldest and the last remaining. 
She grew up in Plymouth, until she was evacuated with her family to Oldham during the Second World war. Here she got a job on the trams as a “Clippy" another name for a conductor and where she loved to glam up and go dancing.
Following the tragic death of her brother and sister, the family returned to Plymouth. Here she met her first husband and at the age of 20 she had her only son Michael, who she absolutely idolised, who unexpectedly passed away in May 2016, leaving her absolutely devastated.
After she met her second husband Arthur who was a Royal Marine, he was posted to Deal in Kent, where they set up home and for many years Phyllis had a wool and babywear shop in Folkestone.

Her passion was to knit and she was rarely seen without a pair of knitting needles in her hands, until she was diagnosed with macular degeneration, which took away most of her sight. But like everything that life threw at her, she never complained and got on with it.
Later Phyllis & Arthur moved to Weeley in Essex to be nearer to her son Michael, his wife Carol and granddaughter Claire. Here she opened another wool shop in Colchester with Carol called “Lady Claire” named after her granddaughter.

After many successful years at the shop Phyllis started to put her other love of life into a business....... cooking. 
Her and Arthur started a market stall selling all of her homemade cooking, including her famous Cornish pasties. Always keeping a part of her roots with her. Apart from the market stalls, she also ran the market cafe in Thorpe Le Soken.

When they retired from the markets, they moved to West Mersea to be even closer to the family. During their retirement her and Arthur used to spend the winters in Denia in Spain in their caravan, where they made many friends.

Phyllis loved to travel, if it wasn’t to Spain, it was to see her brother and his family in Canada and after losing Arthur, she travelled to New Zealand at the age of 80 with her late sister Barbara, to see her niece Karen and her family. And then in 2010 to Tenerife alone at 87 to meet her long awaited great grandson Meyson, whom she doted on.

She also regularly visited her niece Angela & her husband Geoff in Doncaster & back to her hometown Plymouth to see her late sisters Rosie & Barbara.


She lived in Mersea until 2016 where she was very much a part of the community attending various clubs, but following a fall and breaking her pelvis her family were told that she would not be able to return to her home and that they would have to find a care home for her to live, so there she spent her final years in Loganberry Lodge in Colchester.

Slowly the dementia and old age took her life away and she passed away peacefully in her sleep on the 1st of August. 

She leaves behind her granddaughter Claire and her partner Felix, her great grandson Meyson and daughter in law Carol and all her nieces and nephews in different parts of the world. Angela, Alan, Karen, David, Lisa, Colin, Yvonne, Vanessa, Robert and Raymond and all of their families too.

Sadly due to the pandemic we are living in and a lot of Phyllis's family living abroad, with the many restrictions in place, they have been unable to travel to be with us today, but they are very much a part of the service, united together by video link around the world.

Finally, the family would also like to thank Kevin, Denise and Barbara for accompanying Phyllis here today on the final part of her journey, for that they will be eternally grateful and also to her other friends from Mersea that are here with us today.