Phyllis Elizabeth Goforth

Phyllis Elizabeth Goforth went home to be with her Lord and Savior on May 31st at the age of eighty-nine. Phyllis was born on November 16, 1934, in Oklahoma City, OK to Edwin G. Henschke and Helen Henschke (Lachenmaier). She was raised with a love for art, music, and photography. As a teenager her first job was working at the Oklahoma City Zoo. After graduating from Northeast High School, in Oklahoma City, she attended a local business college. Then, Phyllis worked for Bell Telephone Company. In 1955, she met the love of her life, Lowell Thomas Goforth. They were married on August 17, 1957, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Lowell and Phyllis soon after began their own wedding and portrait photography business. In 1967, the Goforth family of four, with daughter Lesa and son Warren, moved to Okeene, Oklahoma to farm, and ranch. Phyllis and Lowell continued as photographers taking family portraits and photographing weddings in the Okeene area. The family soon grew to six with the addition of Ross and Russell. Phyllis and Lowell spent the rest of their working years in Okeene. Phyllis loved to listen to classical, opera and Broadway music. In the early years of their marriage, she painted portraits and landscape scenes. She was an enthusiastic gardener. She fostered a love of music with her children by encouraging them to learn the piano. Lowell and Phyllis moved to Surrey Hills outside of Oklahoma City in 2000 after retiring.

Phyllis is preceded in death by her son Warren Thomas Goforth, her husband, Lowell Thomas Goforth, Lowell’s parents Otis and Lillian Goforth, and her parents, Edwin and Helen Henschke, and her sister, Barbara Ann Wooldridge and her husband, B.T. Wooldridge, and their son, Jeff Wooldridge. She was also preceded in death by her sister-in-law, Juanita Goforth.

She will be missed. Her memory is cherished by her children: her daughter Lesa Davis, and her husband Dana, of Fort Worth Texas, with their son Andy, and his wife, Caitlin, and their daughter Hilary Stiles, and her husband, David, with their son Briar, daughter, Paisley, and daughter, Presley. Phyllis is also survived by her son, Ross Goforth of Oklahoma City. Phyllis is also survived by son, Russell Goforth, his daughters Claire and Allison, and son Reagan, and their mother, Xandra Goforth. Phyllis is also survived by Warren's wife, Leisha Goforth, with their sons, Grant, and Reed of Yukon, OK. She is also survived, by her brother-in-law, Gene Goforth, of Okeene, OK. She is also survived by niece, Terry Goforth and husband Wayne Trail, and their daughters, Katie Trail, and Emily Trail, and nephew Gene Goforth Jr., and spouse, Wayne Markham, and, nephew Michael Goforth, and his wife, Kandy and their children, son Bradon, and, daughter Ashton and husband Corey Brown, all of Colorado Springs, CO.; and maternal nephew, William Wooldridge, and wife Lori Wooldridge of Oklahoma City. She is survived as well by neighbors and many friends and other family in Okeene and Oklahoma City, including her church family of New Hope United Methodist Church.