Phyllis Ann Hodgson, first-born child of Albert Henderson and Alzada Gertrude (Glaze) Pettyjohn, was born Oct. 29, 1925, in Chanute. She died Thursday, March 10, 2011, at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.
She had two brothers who survive, Philip K. Pettyjohn and his wife, Ruth, Houston, Texas, and James D. Pettyjohn and his wife, Alice, Raleigh, N.C. She is also survived by three sisters-in-law and several cousins. She also leaves the family of her son-in-law, Robert Hoke and his wife, Vicki, Lyndon, and their children, Anthony and his wife, Carly, Long Beach, Calif., and Andrea Hoke, Lyndon.
On Dec. 26, 1948, she married Henry Albert Hodgson of Kincaid. He died in 1985.
The couple had two daughters, Ann Elizabeth and Susan Kay. Ann and her husband, Robert Hoke, had one daughter, Machelle Ann. Susan and her husband, Daniel Vest, had one son, Daniel Mark Jr. The two daughters and their children all lost their lives in a 1974 tornado that struck Emporia.
For most of her life Phyllis was an active member of the United Methodist Churches in Kincaid, Lone Elm and Colony. Many of those years she played the piano or organ for church services. For more than 50 years she was a member of the Tuesday Study Club of Kincaid, an affiliate of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Kansas.
For seven years she was a Midland Hospice volunteer and received the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award for Anderson County in 1994. She served as a guide for the Allen County Historical Museum and was an active member of Friends of the Iola Public Library and Allen County Area Retired School Personnel. She was a Bible study coordinator for Stonecroft Ministries and active in Christian Women’s Club.
She was a graduate of Toronto High School and Pittsburg State University, where she earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees. She taught English and speech and directed many plays in her 37-year teaching career. She taught at Kincaid Rural High School, Colony High School, Blue Mound High School and Jayhawk Linn High School in Mound City. She also substituted one semester at LaHarpe High School. She enjoyed her students and teaching, her family and her community and demonstrated it throughout a life of service.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church in Iola. The Rev. Jim Rausch will officiate.
The family will receive friends at the church an hour prior to the service.
Memorials to First Presbyterian Church or Iola Public Library may be left at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel of Iola, which is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences for the family may be left at iolafuneral.com.
Phyllis Hodgson
