Phyllis A Barrett

Phyllis Ann Albright Barrett, 95, passed away peacefully at home at 10:17 am on January 23, 2025, in Birmingham, Alabama surrounded by loved ones. Born in Mishawaka, Indiana on July 3,1929 to the late Frank G. Albright and Louise (Kizer) Albright, Phyllis attended Mishawaka High School, graduating in 1947. She attended Drake University and studied drama, returning to South Bend to attend Indiana University at South Bend. There she met Robert Michael (Bob) Barrett, a student at Notre Dame. On July 1, 1950, the couple married in South Bend, Indiana. They had five children over the next 15 years and moved numerous times with Bob’s work, including Portland, Oregon, Washington, D. C., Phoenix, Amarillo, and Dallas, finally settling in Birmingham in 1966.

A devoted wife and mother, Phyllis was also an accomplished seamstress and embroiderer. She could make anything, from wedding dresses to doll clothes. She loved to read, play bridge, bowl, golf, write short stories, and was a master at Scrabble. She played the piano beautifully and enjoyed her plants and many pets. She volunteered countless hours with her church and children’s activities. In addition, she had a wonderful sense of humor, and would write letters to her friends and family, especially her mother, detailing the many adventures, mishaps, and escapades of her growing children and sports obsessed husband.

In 1979 she began a job with the Birmingham News as the writer of a biweekly column entitled Hang in There Mom. For the next 8 years, she shared her humorous perspective on being a wife and mother, to the delight of all who read her articles. In 2008 Phyllis compiled her articles into a book entitled Hang in There Mom! Musings of a Woman Adjusting (Still) and sold and donated numerous copies. The book is still available for purchase on Amazon.

In 1993, Bob and Phyllis moved to Cropwell, Alabama, where Phyllis devoted her time to many activities at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church and volunteered for the Radio Reading Service. The couple remained in Cropwell until Bob’s death in 2017, and in 2018, Phyllis moved back to Birmingham to Town Village Senior Living to be closer to family. In April of 2024, Phyllis moved to Fairhaven Independent Living. In both communities she met incredible people who enriched her life.

She is preceded in death by Bob, her husband of 67 years; her parents, Frank and Louise Albright; her brother, Richard Albright; and sister, Barbara Heiser; as well as other family members and countless dear friends. She is survived by her five children, Melinda Cammarata (Mike), Teresa Clark (Jeff), R. Michael Barrett, II (Denise), Susan Compton (John), and Patrick Barrett (Nita), 13 grandchildren, 6 grandchildren-in-law, 12 great-grandchildren.

Visitation with the family will be held at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church from 1:00 to 1:30pm on Saturday, February 15, 2025. A funeral mass will take place from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm followed by a reception in the Parish Hall.

The family would like to thank ProHealth Hospice and Phyllis’s nurse Falicia McLaughlin, as well as her dear caregiver, Donna Kimble, for making her final days ones of peace and comfort. She will be greatly missed by so many who loved her dearly.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations be made to ProHealth Hospice at 1800 Corporate Drive, Birmingham, AL 35242, or to the National Federation of the Blind (https://nfb.org/), one of the many organizations she faithfully supported.