PHYLLIS HARBURN

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PHYLLIS HARBURN

Our Mom, Phyllis Harburn, went to catch up with Dad (Foster) on March 14, 2024. At 93 years old the doctors had been telling her for some time that her parts were getting pretty worn out and tired, so her quiet passing was not unexpected.

Memories of Mom have been left in good hands — her son, Leslie (Marg) and daughters, Dale (Don), Rhonda (Rod), Joyce (Paul), seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren will forever treasure them all.

Typical of the times, Mom’s life pivoted around the family farm at Brookdale where she was instrumental in keeping the chaos organized. Man, could that woman work! A gargantuan garden, huge yard, meals to the fields, parts runs, grain truck duty, 500 chickens — just a mindboggling number of hats selflessly worn with pride.

Our once bustling community kept Mom hopping at times as well. We remember her cooking on grand scales for countless U.C.W. catering forays — weddings, auction sales, bonspiels and the ever popular Fall Suppers to name some. A few phone calls, and the ball was rolling. Those were the days.

Mom honed many talents over her years. She was a knitter, a sewer, a quilter, and did quite a bit of upholstery and furniture refinishing. At an early age she learned to play the piano by ear and she played at many, many community dances with Doug Chisholm on violin.

Mom was happiest when the house was rollicking with the shenanigans of kids and grandkids. She liked nothing better than having company drop in for an Old Vienna or two in the evenings. Her warm, welcoming ease often drew younger sets of elbows to the kitchen table. On quite a few occasions, these gatherings morphed into full blown kitchen dances that lasted into the wee hours. Her laugh was easily recognized and rivaled only by the likes of her brother, Robert and Jim Christison.

As adults, we often told Mom how fortunate we were to be raised under her her mindful watch. She modeled work ethic, conscience and boundaries. She let us learn from our mistakes and never lorded them over us. She was deeply interested in our lives but never interfered. And she gave the best damned hugs…

White’s Funeral Home – Carberry in care of arrangements.

As published in Brandon Sun on Mar 16, 2024, Mar 16, 2024