Phyllis Irene White

Phyllis Irene White, 97, passed away on August 31, 2026, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 2:30pm at the Stillwater Christian Villa, 1810 N. Washington St., Stillwater, Ok. 74075. Dighton Marler Funeral Home is entrusted with arrangements.

She was born in Stillwater and moved to the family farm south of Sumner at the age of 3. She went to grade school at Windy Center, graduated from Sumner High School in 1946.

She worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company for 35 years in Perry, OK, Compton, CA, Dallas, TX, and Oklahoma City, OK where she retired in December 1983 as a group manager. In 2005, she moved to Stillwater to be near her sisters Florence and Vivian and niece Judy.

She loved doing needlework and crafts. She was very proud of making a very large cross-stitch map of the United States that took five years to complete.

She was a post member of the Forest Hill Christian Church in Oklahoma City, OK. She did OKC Parks and Recs, Athletics and Senior Olympics and has numerous medals for athletics. She competed at the state level in weightlifting, swimming, walking, line dancing and reading.

She was loved as a very dear aunt by her nieces and nephews and her great nephew Scott Jacobson and great nieces Amy Pope and Jamie Rieman, and Regina James and others.

She was an avid walker and attributed that to her good health into her old age. She was still walking within three days of her death without the aid of a cane or a walker.

She loved to feed the birds and always had a bird calendar. She had a large collection of ceramic birds.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Herbert Stanton White and Hazel Nadean McDaniel White, her brother John Clinton White, sisters, Vera Sooter, Florence Akin, Frances White, Vivian Rieman, and Pat Noland.

She is survived by her nieces, Judy Schroeder, Rebecca Switzer, Karen Wilson and husband Dale, Charlotte Romain and nephew Gary Akin and wife Suzanne. She is also survived by numerous great, great-great and great-great-great nieces and nephews, as well as her dear friend Dorene Nemecek and her “Family” at Stillwater Christian Villa.

Memorial contributions can be made in her name to the Sumner Cemetery Association c/o Dighton Marler Funeral Home, 5106 N. Washington St., Stillwater, Oklahoma 74075.