Phyllis Leister Benway

Phyllis L Benway, 82, born October 31, 1942, in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, daughter to Ellis Francis Leister and Bernice Mae Leister (nee Corbin) and mother to Jill B Kelley and Jon M Benway, passed away on Thursday, August 21, 2025, after a long battle with urothelial carcinoma. Her final moments were spent peacefully in her home of 42 years in La Mesa, California.

Born in New Jersey, Phyllis is a graduate of Weehawken High School. She came to San Diego, California, in 1982 to raise her family. Her life’s work was spent as a medical transcriptionist and transcriptionist supervisor at Alvarado Hospital where she retired in 2017 after 40 years of service.

Phyllis enjoyed traveling within the United States and historical areas of interest, bringing along family members to National Parks including Yosemite, Zion, Yellowstone, Sequoia, and the Grand Canyon. She also enjoyed taking family and grandchildren to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Legoland and Disneyland. Phyllis was a San Diego Padres and Green Bay Packers fan and enjoyed attending family members’ school sporting events.

In her spare time Phyllis enjoyed crossword puzzles, yoga, watching the Game Show Network, collecting refrigerator magnets from places she traveled and knitting. As part of her retirement, she adopted and cared for older, hard-to-place animals.

Phyllis was a devoted mother to Jill and Jon. Jill was the first in the family to achieve a college degree, graduating from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a four year degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in middle school with endorsements in mathematics, science and social studies. Jon is a high school graduate and attained his forklift operator license.

Phyllis is survived by daughter Jill, 57, of La Mesa, CA., son Jon, 55, of Glen Carbon, IL., and grandchildren Adrienne Kelley, 25, of Tucson, AZ. and John Kelley, 23, of Cape Girardeau, MO.