Pine Valley, Baker County, Oregon
Phyllis Beitz, 76, died April 28, 2006, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center.
Private interment will be at Pine Haven Cemetery in Halfway.
Phyllis Ann was born on Sept. 30, 1928, to Frank and Mary Fisk at the Pine Valley home of her grandparents, Tom and Willie Harmon. She attended first and second grades at Pine Valley and Grades 3-6 in Baker. Her seventh- through 11th- grade years were spent at San Diego, but she returned to Halfway to graduate in 1946.
After high school, Phyllis moved to San Diego to work at an aeronautical corporation. From 1953 to 1988 she worked for three different mechanical engineers in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M.
Phyllis married Victor Allstead and they had a son, Michael. She later married Jeff Davalos, and they had a son, David Davalos, who was killed in an automobile accident at Pojoaque, N.M., in 1975.
She later married Gregory Beitz and they were married 17 years. In 1988, Phyllis moved to Halfway to care for her mother, Mary Riggs. During her years in Halfway, she was very active in community projects such as the Grange and City Council.
During her life she enjoyed fishing, hunting, arts and crafts, sewing, and gardening.
Phyllis and her family were very appreciative of her friend and caregiver, Cindy Anderson, who they said was “such a blessing.” They expressed appreciation to community members for all of their help.
Survivors include her brother, Don Fisk of Burlington, S.C.; son, Michael, and his wife, Cynthia; granddaughter, Michele of Santa Fe, N.M.; and many cousins, including Mary Jo Rode of Ontario, John Harmon of Yuba City, Calif., and Betty Endicott of Baker City; and friends throughout the country.
Phyllis kept a poem from the “Little House on the Prairie” television program. She asked that this be shared, “Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is the way I’ll remember you. If you can remember me only with tears, then don’t remember me at all.”
Memorial contributions may be made to the Pine Valley Youth Fund, Pine Valley Baptist Church or the charity of one’s choice through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home, P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, May 5, 2006
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor