Phyllis M. Pontow, 86, Hastings

May 18, 1924 - April 5, 2011
 
    Funeral services were held for Phyllis Marie Pontow, Monday, April 11, 2011, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Hastings, with interment in East Liberty Cemetery.  A memorial fund has been established. Mansfield-Hertz Funeral Home of Malvern was in charge of arrangements.
    Phyllis, the youngest of seven children, of William Whiting and Nellie Jane (Wright) Wheeler, was born May 18, 1924, at the family farm near Glenwood.  She was baptized Nov. 12, 1939, at the First Christian Church in Glenwood. Phyllis attended Little Brick country school through the eighth grade and graduated from Glenwood High School in 1941 with a Normal Training Teacher’s Certificate. In 1943, she graduated from the Van Sant Business College in Omaha, Neb.  Phyllis worked at the Omaha Blaugas Company, until World War II. She then took a civil service position in Glenwood at the Office of Price Administration, which was commonly called the “Ration Office.”
    During the summer of 1941, through an introduction by a mutual friend, Phyllis met August Louis Pontow. While he was home on furlough, they were married Feb. 25, 1944, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, rural Hastings.  Their wedding reception was the first one held in the new basement of the church. On Sept. 17, 1946, Phyllis was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Glenwood and became a member of St. John’s.               
    Phyllis continued to work until 1946, when Augie was discharged from the Army and returned to Iowa. Augie and Phyllis made their home in Glenwood and briefly in Omaha, until they moved to his parents’ farm in rural Hastings on Feb. 1, 1947. Their marriage was blessed with four children, Jerry Lynn, Jo Anna, Bonnie Kay and Dale Edward.
    Phyllis kept busy on the farm, raising their children while Augie farmed. Later in 1960, he also began work at Griffin Pipe in Council Bluffs, and worked there for 21 years. Phyllis was active with the Malvern Band Mothers, and served as president, secretary and project chairman and was on the Malvern School Advisory Board. Phyllis was a long time member of St. John’s and a charter member of the Ladies Aid, becoming the first president when it was organized and held other offices over the years.  Phyllis shared her love of music by serving as the church music director for 20 years and was a choir member for 60 years. She was also a member of the Southwest Iowa Baroque Oratorio Choir for 25 years and a board member for 14 years.
    Phyllis loved spending time with friends, family and grandchildren. Every wedding anniversary, Phyllis received red roses from Augie, one for each year of their marriage. They were married 66 years when Augie passed away at their home April 27, 2010.
    Phyllis, due to a fall in her home and declining health, moved to Linnwood Estates in Glenwood on March 2, 2011. She passed away there April 5, 2011, at the age of 86 years. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband August Pontow; sisters, Jessie Wheeler, Beulah Inman and husband Herman, Thelma McClurkin and husband Ernest “Mac,” and Helen Leu and husband Bruno; brothers, Charles Wheeler and wife Helen, and William “Bert” Wheeler; sisters-in-law, Ella Henderson and husband Alva “Pete,” and Rosa Scheel and husband Allen.
    Phyllis is survived by her children, Jerry Pontow and wife Jeannie, of Hastings; Jo Anna Perkins and husband Gary of Malvern; Bonnie Corron of West Des Moines; and Dale Pontow and wife Debie of El Cajon, Calif.; sister-in-law, Margaret “Peggy” Wheeler of Tabor; 11 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews; many other relatives and a host of friends.