From the family of Phyllis Wipf to Family and Friends:

We invite you to join in a virtual celebration of the life of our beloved mother and grandmother. There will be a brief service followed by opportunity for reflection. Phyllis treasured her relationships with each of you, and we hope you can join us to honor her life:

PHYLLIS WIPF memorial service - Zoom Meeting

Time: Sunday, August 30, 2020 01:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join on your computer:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8585999422

Or by phone - dial: 1-346-248-7799

Meeting ID: 858 599 9422

Phyllis Ruth (Coles) Wipf, 90, died Thursday, February 20, 2020 in Spearfish, SD.

Phyllis was born Sept. 22, 1929 to Oscar and Stella (Smelser) Coles in Mobridge, SD. She grew up on her parents' homestead in South Dakota's west river country during the Great Depression. In her grade school years, she and her siblings rode their horses to Red Top Hill, which was a one-room schoolhouse about a mile from their home. Later, she lived in Mobridge, where she worked for her room and board while attending Mobridge High School, from which she graduated in 1947. She went to Sioux Falls College and taught kindergarten in Mitchell, SD, before attending SDSU in Brookings. There she met her husband, Calvin Z. Wipf. They were married in 1953 and spent the summer of the following year as a fire lookout team on Bernard Peak in northern Idaho—a time she memorialized in her book, Life on a Lookout . In 1957, she received a BS in Home Economics from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where Calvin was going to dental school. They moved to Fargo, ND in 1960, and lived there until 1992 when they retired to Spearfish.

Phyllis lived a life of great resilience and adaptability, always rising to meet the needs of the occasion. At different times, she was a cowgirl, a pea-picker, a kindergarten teacher, an assembly-line worker, a teacher's aide, and a homemaker.

Perhaps the role she identified with the most was that of mother and, for her four children, she brought an exceptional creativity to the art of motherhood. She read to them, planted gardens and did art projects with them, and instilled in them an appreciation for nature. She taught them to make things that were both practical and beautiful. Memorably, she constructed a set of enormous building blocks, called "planks and crates," which, for years, delighted her children and all the children of their Fargo neighborhood.

Herself she often referred to as a "crafty lady," being an expert at sewing, embroidery, knitting, beading, and a multitude of other crafts. In her college years, she won a campus-wide art competition for her copper-tooling. Many people benefitted from her handiwork as she made quilts and afghans for children and grandchildren, sewed stuffed toys for church bazaars, and knit baby blankets and "prayer shawls" for people in her church.

She loved her family and her many friends. Her community was very important to her as was her church. She attended the Church of All Angels in Spearfish, where she was a devoted member of the Trinity Guild.

She is survived by two sons, two daughters, a daughter-in-law, and a son-in-law: Greg and Joyce Wipf, Edmonds, WA; Mary and Mark Zimmerman, Nemo, SD; Carol Wipf, Chatham, NJ; Mark Wipf, Albuquerque, NM; and by three grandchildren: Alexander (Caroline) Kratzwipf, Mackenzie Wipf, and Harrison Wipf. Two sisters-in-law also survive her: Mija Coles and Carolyn Madsen. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her four siblings.

Memorial service will be held at the All Angels Episcopal Church in Spearfish at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established to All Angels Trinity Guild.