Phyllis was born at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Washington to Philip and Ruth Nordstrom on March 21st, 1935. As a young lady, she loved to visit her Grandma Hilma in the Roosevelt district for coffee and cookies, bike with friends around Green Lake and explore the woods at her parent’s cabin on Whidbey Island. When she was seven years old, her only sibling Terry was born. Her love for animals would remain throughout her life. It started at an early age when her parents got her a cute cocker spaniel, she named Flicka. Phyllis trained her to do all sorts of tricks and they were constant companions. She grew up in Magnolia and graduated from Queen Anne High School where she was a special editor and wrote a regular advice column for the Kuay (School Newspaper), was on the Scholastic Honor Society Committee, and was awarded membership in the Quill and Scroll – a national honor society for high school journalism. In addition, she was active in the Lutheran Church, being confirmed in 1949 and participating weekly in Luther League.
After High School, she attended Washington State College and majored in Microbiology. While there, she met her future husband (a farmer from Rosalia, Washington named Alvin Frick) in the Student Union Building one day for a “Coke” date. She graduated in 1957 and a couple years later, on December 12th, 1959, they were married. Phyllis utilized her degree and worked for several laboratories, including the University of Washington, until she and Alvin had their first of two sons, Greg, in 1965. Having saved some money, the family bought a house in Shoreline in 1967, and in 1969, David was born; Phyllis stayed home and raised the boys for the next sixteen years. This time was filled with school activities, kid’s sports, trips to the Oregon Coast, camping at the cabin on Whidbey Island, fishing trips to Curlew Lake and the occasional marathon road trip to Disneyland (one of her favorite places on earth). Phyllis also maintained her love for animals as a stream of dogs, rabbits, and hamsters populated the house, but the favorite was the family dog Ginger the Springer Spaniel; the first of many Springer Spaniels she would raise throughout the rest of her life. During this time, the family also became members of First Lutheran Church of Richmond Beach and remain so to this day.
After David entered high school, Phyllis was excited about the opportunity to return to her work in microbiology and soon found a job working for the State Public Health Laboratory in Seattle. Over the next several years she was integral to both her sons attending and graduating from Washington State University; writing letters and sending care packages, visiting for football games and Mother’s Weekend, and providing the occasional late-night supportive phone call.
Shortly after Greg graduated college in 1988, he married, and Phyllis’ first grandson (Bryan) was born in 1989. This would be the start of new life stage, with six more grandchildren on the way. Greg and his wife Robin had three more boys (Patrick, Kenneth, and Benjamin), and in 1997, David married his wife Jolie and over the next several years they had two girls and a boy (Ashley, Kyle, and Ella). Phyllis adored her grandchildren and traveled great distances to attend and support them at football games, track meets, dance performances, and Boy Scout ceremonies. At the same time, she continued to raise her beloved Springer Spaniels. In 2000, this was made easier as she retired from her work as a Microbiologist. Shortly thereafter, Al retired, and they spent the next fifteen years traveling around the United States, to Europe, and to Japan.
In 2014, the first of her great-grandchildren arrived (Aria) and she was blessed by four more (Marceline, Jayce, Henry, and Grayson), the most recent being twin boys born in 2018. This wonderful journey reached an incredible milestone when in late 2019, Phyllis and Al celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
In her confirmation bible, there was a verse identified as her life verse -- Proverbs 15:29 – which says, “Jehovah is far from the wicked; But he heareth the prayer of the righteous”. Phyllis lived her life loving her family mightily, showing concern for the lives of others, and valuing all of God’s creatures.
This amazing life was a gift from God, and she has now been called her home. We all miss her and cannot wait to see her again.
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