Mrs Phyllis Noeline Knutson

Phyllis Noeline was born in Innisfree Alberta, September 7, 1932, to Louis and Marie Hauser. She was the youngest daughter of five siblings. Early life on the farm was good, but also hard. This gave Phyllis a work ethic that would serve her well throughout her life. She was in her teens when the family moved out to B.C. but as she blossomed, her travels would take her back to Alberta she was so fond of.

Phyllis attended Techumseh then John Oliver school in South Vancouver. This is when she met her husband of 60 years, William. Phyllis and Bill were married December 3, 1954 in Vancouver. They enjoyed their early days, working hard to carve out a new life together, eventually settling in to North Vancouver. This is where Phyllis gave birth to their two sons, Martin and William Jr. Raising her boys right and catholic was important to her, and her love; and the weekend sailing trips on the trimarran that Bill had built, were her chores.

Sailing to Pender Harbour and visiting friends planted a seed that would have the family move to Maderia Park on the Sunshine Coast in 1971. Life was exciting in their new home and it wasn’t long before an opportunity at the elementary school, to help with the special needs children, was offered to her. Phyllis found a calling in this, and embraced a long career in the school system. She truly enjoyed her profession and the love and care that she showed, came back to her many times over from the students that she taught. As Phyllis approached retirement, the need to be on the Sunshine coast was not as great, and the yearn for her to be closer to the church moved her and Bill to Langley.

Langley was also an exciting new turn in her life where she and Bill became proud owner/operators of a sizable flower nursery. Billy also helped at the nursery during this time, as the work load was very great. This was a special time that Phyllis always treasured with her son. Through their hard work, the nursery thrived. Fuschias and geraniums were her specialty. She won numerous awards for excellence in her flowers and flower arrangements. She belonged to many flower clubs and held the seat of president for many years. Volunteering in various capacities at the clubs kept Phyllis busy and even though her knees would have her grumbling from time to time about her work load, the flowers were a love that she could not let go. An eventual scale down and move to a smaller nursery and then finally to just her beloved house plants, kept flowers always close to her heart.

Phyllis was a proud grandmother, and enjoyed her visits to the Yukon to see Marty and Maryann and her four grandchildren Tyson, Karl, Tamika and Aurora. She once, was asked to watch her two young grandsons in Dawson in December while her twin granddaughters were being born in Whitehorse. “It can get kinda cold up here Mom, are you okay with that?” To which she replied “If I can put up with that blowing snow in Calgary, I will be fine.” Phyllis was that tough. One morning when the mercury dipped to minus forty, she had become trapped in the house because she pulled the handle right off the door that had completely frozen shut. Un-phased, she called a family friend to come over and “kick the door in”, which he did. She then bundled the kids up and trudged down to the store in the minus 40 to get the groceries needed to keep them going through the cold snap. Nothing slowed down Grandma when it came to her grandchildren.

A sudden stroke took Phyllis from us, but true to her nature she held on long enough for the family to say their goodbyes. She passed very peacefully and is undoubtedly watching over her family she loved so dearly. Phyllis will be laid to rest with her mother and father at Mountain View Cemetary.