Phyllis M. Smith

July 8, 1928 -

Jan 21, 2020

Phyllis M. Smith passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, in Chugiak, Alaska, on Jan. 21, 2020, at the age of 91. Phyllis was born on July 8, 1928, in The Dalles, Ore., the first child of Fred and Erma French Lemke. The family moved around Oregon during the Depression years, but Phyllis and her younger sister Liz were back in The Dalles for high school. Phyllis was an outgoing girl, active in sports and social organizations. That set the pattern for the rest of her life. She graduated from The Dalles High School in 1946, and attended the University of Oregon until her marriage in 1948. Phyllis was employed by The Dalles Chronicle newspaper as a proofreader, and at the Sunshine Biscuit Company where she learned bookkeeping. At the time she moved to Alaska in 1952, she was the head bookkeeper for the Wasco County Public Utility District.

Phyllis married Jack Stewart in The Dalles in 1948. Jack joined the Army and was transferred to Fort Richardson, Alaska, in 1952. After they arrived, they filed on a 160-acre homestead in Eagle River Valley. They completed the homesteading requirements, and received patent to their land in 1954. Phyllis got a job on Ft. Rich where she worked until just before the birth of her first child. Two more children followed, and she was a stay-at-home mom.

A divorce in 1966 put Phyllis back in the workforce. She took a job as a bookkeeper at the local bowling alley, and then at the Anchorage accounting firm of Hedla, Sherwood, Noblin, and Yerion. After taking many years of night classes, Phyllis became a Certified Public Accountant in 1973. She became active in the Alaska Society of CPA's, eventually serving on its Board of Directors. She received the Society's Distinguished Service Award in 1995. She remained with the same accounting firm through their various mergers, and retired in 1991 from Ernst and Young as Senior Manager. Phyllis then started her own accounting practice, specializing in taxation.

She married Floyd Smith, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant, in 1968. Grandkids, bowling and golfing were their main interests. They spent 38 happy years together until his death in 2006.

For 65 years Phyllis was active in the Chugiak-Eagle River community. In 1952, she formed the first Girl Scout Troop in the local area, Troop 54, and served as leader until the birth of her first child in 1954. She joined the Chugiak PTA in 1952, and became president in 1960, when Debi started school there. She was also active in the Chugiak Ladies Club, Chugiak Benefit Association, Eagle River PTA, Operation Chugiak High School and the Chugiak-Eagle River Historical Society. Phyllis was a census taker during the 1960 and 1970 Federal Census, and for the community directory that the Ladies Club published for a few years in the 1960s. From 1964 to 1970 she sat on the Board of the Knik Little League, served as "equipment man" for the four teams of the league and as scorekeeper for the Angels, one of the four teams. Phyllis was active in the Alaska World Affairs Council, serving 15 years as Treasurer, and one year as President. She received their Distinguished Service award in 2006, and was elected to Emeritus status in 2007.

Bowling was a big part of her life. She began at age 10 in a bowling alley that her parents owned in Redmond, Ore. They lost the bowling alley when Phyllis was 11, so the family moved back to The Dalles, where her mother had been hospitalized with tuberculosis. Phyllis and her sister Liz moved in with their grandparents. She began bowling again in high school, and continued after her move to Alaska. When bowling lanes were built in Eagle River in 1962, she formed and coached a Bantam League. She was active in the Anchorage Women's Bowling Association, and bowled in leagues in Anchorage and Eagle River. She won numerous bowling awards, and held many offices in the Association over the years. Phyllis was inducted into the Anchorage Women's Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1982.

With typical planning and forward thinking, Phyllis moved out of the homestead house she had built and lived in for 66 years, and into the Chugiak Senior Center in 2018. The family deeply appreciates the wonderful care which Phyllis received from the staff at the Center until her passing.

Phyllis was a loving and supportive mother, who taught her children the importance of kindness, honesty and fairness. She didn't lecture about those qualities, she demonstrated them in her everyday life. Phyllis was always the person in the bleachers cheering for both teams.

Phyllis is survived by her children, Debi Tandeske (Bill), Mike Stewart (Judy), and Scott Stewart (Jung); nine grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date.