Phyllis Litherland

Phyllis Litherland, (née Phyllis Chilcott), was born on November 25, 1927, in Woodward, Oklahoma, and died on August 12, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 90.

Phyllis was the youngest of four children born to Winona Hunter Chilcott and Ellery Franklin Chilcott on the Woodward Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, where they made their home. Siblings included Robert Channing (deceased), Mary Alice (deceased) and Florence, of Annandale, Virginia. Upon Ellery's death in 1939, Winona moved the family to Whittier, California. But the Midwest beckoned, so after only one year, Winona moved the family to Columbia, Missouri.

Phyllis received a degree from Stephens College in Columbia. One of her classmates, Annabelle (Moen) Christie, invited Phyllis to come north to the Minnesota lake country during a school break. There, Phyllis met Robert Litherland.

Robert (Bob) and Phyllis married on June 5, 1948. They have four daughters: Susan Litherland, of Chicago; Janice (James) Coffelt, of Lakewood, Colorado; Teri (Jerome) Thorsen, Pelican Rapids, Minnesota; and Caren Litherland, of New York, New York.

Phyllis and Bob opened the Moorhead (MN) Dairy Queen at 8th Street and Main Avenue in 1949, living in the back room of the small structure. In 1951, Bob, a veteran of World War II, got recalled to active duty during the Korean Crisis. That left Phyllis to run the Dairy Queen without him, as well as raise their newborn daughter, Sue. Phyllis and Sue were taken in by (then) strangers, the Carl and Ruth Anderson family in south Fargo, until Bob's return.

While working as a full partner with Bob in the business, Phyllis also raised their four daughters. In her "spare" time, she served on city boards and task forces. In the early eighties, she returned to school, taking classes in computer science and women's studies at Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University Moorhead). She was a voracious reader with a lifelong interest in politics who also enjoyed swimming, gardening, and restoring antiques.

Throughout her adult life, she immersed herself in the philanthropic educational mission of P.E.O. Phyllis believed strongly in the importance of education for women and worked on projects to further that mission both locally as a member of Chapter DC and as a state officer, becoming President of the Minnesota State Chapter for the 1987 - 88 term.

Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, two of her siblings, and her husband, Bob, in 2013. She is survived by her four daughters; grandson, Tyler (Anna Decatur) Thorsen, of Chicago; grandson, Hunter (Lindsay Thompson) Thorsen, of Moorhead; and granddaughter, Laura (Cody) Kieft, of Grand Lake, Colorado.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Chapter DC PEO for scholarships.

A Gathering of Friends for Phyllis will be Wednesday, September 5, 2018, from 1:00 pm until 2:00 pm, followed by her Memorial Service at 2:00 PM in First Congregational United Church of Christ., Moorhead.

(Korsmo Funeral Service, Moorhead)