On April 10, 2022, Phyllis Suzanne Siler, loving mother of two children and devoted wife, passed away at the age of 76. 

Phyllis was born July 31, 1945 to Jim and Marleta Sloan in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The same day as her birth, she didn’t know it or understand it yet, but she immediately had a best friend for life, her older sister Sharon. 

A couple of family moves in the forties & fifties and Phyllis settled in Kansas City, Missouri.  It was in the sixties Phyllis met her love, Wayne Siler, and they were married May 20th, 1967.   

Soon after marriage, Wayne was drafted into the US Military and Phyllis wrote and supported her husband from Washington State.  During this time, she’d meet Wayne for R&R in Honolulu, Hawaii.  They developed a lifelong affinity with Hawaii and continued their visits for decades after Wayne’s service ended.  Phyllis loved the sand, salt air and sun. 

Phyllis was an amazing wife and mother.  She had a passion for the home and raising her children.  She’d never miss a swim meet, basketball game or football game where her children were participating.  She was a second mom to Juliee and Scott’s friends, always welcoming and often cooking up something special to share. 

Phyllis’s passion for family was evident by her love for not just Wayne, but Wayne’s much larger family.  She adored the holidays where she could show off her cooking skills and watch her brisket, fudge and cheesecake disappear one smiley bite at a time.  But more than cooking, Phyllis liked to chat and gossip and visit with those she loved. 

As Juliee and Scott entered their teens, and Phyllis had more time, it was the mid-eighties she’d develop another passion – work.  Less than a mile away from our home was an apartment complex that hired Phyllis to lease units.  They took a chance on her and she was a natural.  Once Phyllis found her leasing agent footing, communities would have no vacancies.  Year after year she’d receive award after award.  Her secret, every stranger that walked in was a friend Phyllis hadn’t met yet. Phyllis would not accept any promotions to manage properties or even learn a computer, she knew what she enjoyed and kept doing it for decades to come. 

Phyllis’s love for family and friends was boundless.  Her four grandchildren, Juliee’s children loved going to their Gram’s house knowing she would always have her homemade cookies ready for them to eat. Scott married Laura, and had the opportunity to take Phyllis and Wayne to Argentina to meet Laura’s immediate family and extended family.  Years later at every gathering and international phone call, family would ask “how’s Phyllis, the strong hugger with the infectious smile, doing?” We knew then, she had left her mark in two hemispheres. 

Phyllis was preceded in death by her husband, Wayne Siler, her father, Jim, and her mother, Marleta.  She is survived by her two children, Scott (Laura) and Juliee (Chad), her sister Sharon Crenshaw and four grandchildren (Siler, Taylor, Rylie, Ganon), and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. 

Visitation will be Wednesday, April  13, 2022,  from 6 pm-7:30 pm with Rosary and prayer to follow, at Bruce Funeral Home, 106 S. Center, Gardner, Kansas. 

Burial services will be held at the Leavenworth National Cemetery on Thursday, April 14th, 2022 at 9:00 am.

In lieu of flowers, it is the family’s wish donations be made to www.alz.org (Alzheimer’s Association) on behalf of the Siler family.  Thank you.   

Condolences may be left at www.brucefuneralhome.com