Phyllis Barker Webb

She ended her amazing one-hundred-and-one trips around the sun, in Enfield, Connecticut, where she lived for 44 of her years. She was born 25 November 1921 in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Her formative years were split between the North Shore of Boston, Kingston, New Hampshire, where she graduated High School in 1939, and, Chester, Connecticut. In Chester, she was a 70-year member of the United Church of Chester, was a member of the Women's League there, and as such, devoted much time, sweat and tears to that institution and to her community.

Phyl, as her friends called her, had a presence that commanded the room. Her loyalty to those she loved was fierce. Her steely endurance, unrelenting passion and iron-will were hallmarks of her firecracker character. She was fearless in how she lived and this lent to her life's longevity.

Phyllis was a Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and served her nation via the United States Navy at Naval Hospital Chelsea, Massachusetts as a Pharmacist's Mate Third Class. It was right before her time as a World War II shore-side Sailor that she met the love of her life, Army Private First Class Hawley Hopkins Webb, who earned the Purple Heart during WW2 in North Africa. They were married at the United Church of Chester on 13 May 1945.

Phyllis and Hawley would have three children. Thomas Richard in 1947, James Roger in 1953, and Susan Edith in 1956. Phyl and Hawley raised Tom, Jim and Sue in Chester, Connecticut, and later, in Enfield.

Nana/Mom/Phyl was predeceased by her husband of 53 years, Hawley (1997) and her son Tommy (2016); is survived by her daughter, Sue and her son, Jim; her daughter-in-law Ruth; Marybeth Coronna Webb; her grandchildren Pete, Todd, Jason, Scott, Ryan and Ashley; her granddaughters-in-law Gwen and Lisa; and by her great-grandchildren, Spencer and Christian.

Her family legacy includes galvanizing her children and grandchildren into a love for reading. Her kin had library cards and used them often, and grew to appreciate books. She was the pinnacle of proper manners, marking acceptable boundaries of excellence in behavior. She taught her kids and grandkids of the world around them via frequent travel - especially road trips, to all points New England, to Canada, and back to Chester and Old Saybrook.

Phyllis' Memorial Service will this month; her interment will be held in the Spring of 2023. She will be laid to rest beside her husband Hawley, at the Connecticut State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Middletown, Connecticut.