Obituary

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Phyllis Iona Erwin Lytle (formerly of Pleasant Lake, Indiana, and Angola, Indiana) went to be with the Lord on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

She resided in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and had previously lived in Mansfield, Ohio, and Skaneateles, New York.

She married Edison Warren Lytle in December 1952, and is survived by their three children, Jim (and Diane), Beverly (and Jack) and Joan (and Randy); eight grandchildren, Elizabeth, Melanie, Samantha, Deborah, Ryan, Stephanie, Christopher, and Charles; and five great-grandchildren, Cameron, August, Stella, Mason and Olivia; and her brothers, Charles and Gene.

She was predeceased by her husband; and her grandson, Kyle.

Phyllis was 2 years old when the Great Depression hit. She didn’t appreciate the Waltons very much because her family’s Great Depression life wasn’t as idyllic. They had to move into the basement of an unused schoolhouse. She reported that they ate cornmeal mush all week and had beans for a treat on Sunday. As a little girl, she joined her siblings weeding onions to help the family survive, and ate onion sandwiches for lunch. She complained about none of that, but she did tell us how much she loved the library of that schoolhouse. She read everything she could get her hands on there. We got it: Persevere. Take responsibility. Value learning. Work hard. Keep perspective.

She carried those expectations over into our home. She taught us to get out of bed in the morning, fix our own breakfast, make our own lunch, and iron our own clothes. She expected us to get out to the bus on time without help. It’s just what you do.

Our dad was the love of her life, but he died of cancer, and she became a relatively young widow in 1985. She kept the house, cut the grass, trimmed the bushes, washed the windows and found a job working for Manpower. She could type fast enough to leave the IBM Selectric out of breath. When she was in high school, she jammed her finger on the day of her typing final and still aced it.

When she got breast cancer, she took some time off, but not much. Two heart attacks and assorted surgeries didn’t slow her down much, either. Met another guy, had a great relationship with him, but didn’t marry him. He wasn’t Dad. She worked into her 70s. After she retired, she still kept a rigid schedule. “You get old if you don’t!”

She traveled the world over with her daughter, Joan, who cared for her in her home during her last days. She loved her grandkids and great-grandkids, lurking on Facebook (which she wisely suspected of knowing too much about her), “liking” nearly every post about those third and fourth generations. Technology? No inhibitions. She used a desktop, a laptop, a couple of tablets, and a smart phone. Skyped with her son, Jim, once or twice a week and her daughter, Beverly, every day. Until the brain cancer made it impossible, she walked 2.5 miles a day on the treadmill.

You only get one mom. Ours left a lot behind for us kids. You persevere. Take responsibility. Value learning. Work hard. Keep perspective. Man, are we going to miss her.