Phyllis Florene (Miller) Elson

Phyllis Elson, affectionately known as Me-Me by her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and their friends, went peacefully from her home to be with our Heavenly Father on Tuesday afternoon, February 16, 2016 at the age of ninety-nine. Phyllis had been in good health until very recently.

Phyllis was born December 21, 1916 in Walnut Grove, Missouri to Phillip Wesley Miller and Flora Della (Sanford) Miller. She attended several schools in the surrounding area. She attended school in Walnut Grove from the fifth grade through twelfth grade, where she graduated in 1935. Phyllis received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Southwest Missouri State Teachers College, now Missouri State University, in 1940. While attending there, she was a twirler in the Bruin Boosters Drum Corps and was a member of the Women's Athletic Association. During her teaching career, Phyllis attended graduate school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and Peabody College in Nashville.

Phyllis spent most of her adult life living in Springfield where she taught girls physical education at Study Junior High and Reed Junior High for over twenty-five years. She also taught in several other schools throughout her teaching career in the surrounding area and in Newton, Iowa.

Phyllis and Richard Henson Elson were united in marriage on April 15, 1944 in Marion, Arkansas. From this union, their daughter, Pamela Kay Elson was born. Their twenty-five year marriage was cut short by Dick's death in 1969.

Phyllis became a Christian in her early teens and she was a member of University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield for many years. She served as head of the third grade department and she was a member of the Steven's Mission Circle.

Phyllis was preceded in death by her husband, her father in 1942, her mother in 1969, twin sister Pharrel Irene in 1916, her brothers Harold Edward "Eddie" in 1999 and Hugh Wesley Miller in 2000 and her niece Marsha (Miller) Simon in 1988.

Phyllis is survived by her daughter Pam and her husband Richard "Rick" Lee Jay, Jr.; grandson Richard "Tory" Jay; granddaughter Amasa Louise (Jay) Klineline and her husband Chad; four-year old great-granddaughter Colbie Lee Klineline; two-year old great-grandson Colter Jay Klinelilne; niece Olivia (Miller) Stevens; nephews Charles, Phillip, John and Jim Miller; and on her husband's side of the family, Donna (Snider) Blotter and Barney White, along with all of their families and many other cousins.

Visitation will be at University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 20, 2016. A graveside service will follow at 2:30 p.m. at the Ash Grove Cemetery in Ash Grove, Missouri, under the direction of Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be given in her memory to the donor's choice.