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IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Phyllis Steensrud
Bookless
October 25, 1921 – April 29, 2014
Obituary
Phyllis Steensrud Bookless, age 92, passed away on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 due to congestive heart failure. She was born in rural Mazomanie, WI on October 25, 1921 to Alfred and Mathilda (Leiske) Steensrud, moved to the village in infancy, attended school and graduated from Mazomanie Union Free High School with the class of 1939. Phyllis and the late Archie R. Bookless were married in Glencoe, IL on August 2, 1941. They lived in Glencoe until Archie joined the U.S. Army Air Corps following the outbreak of WWII at which time she returned home to live with her parents in Mazomanie until Archie was discharged in 1946.
In 1947 Archie and Phyllis moved to California and remained there until 1990 when, after retirement, they opted to return to their roots in Wisconsin to live out their remaining years. Her working years were spent primarily in secretarial and human resources positions, the last 11 years for Alfred M. Lewis, Inc. in Riverside, CA where they had lived for 27 years. She loved sewing, was taught by her mother beginning at 8 years of age, hand and machine knitting, quilting, making stained glass and many other crafts. She considered herself a beginning quilter since she completed her first quilt in 2006. She taught herself to knit with the aid of a book purchased for 25 cents at the "dime" store in Winnetka, IL. Her first project was to make mittens for her father since he had told her that his mother made mittens for him. She bought her first knitting machine in 1986 and always had some work in progress until failing eyesight forced her to quit in 2013.
She is survived by her beloved feline friend, Suzie; brother and sister-in-law, Gordon H. (Phyllis) Steensrud; nephews, David (Sally) Lucey, Thomas (Rebecca) Lucey and Bruce (Kathleen) Lucey; nieces, Beth (David) Lunde, Jodi (Ned) Laughrey, Delores (Kim) Kolosovsky, Carol (Ray) Phillips, Barbara (Terry) Muntges and Denise (William) Lish; special cousins and friends in Canada, Mexico, Norway and the United States.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Archie; son, James; parents, Alfred and Mathilda Steensrud; brother, Paul and sister-in-law, Ellen Steensrud; sister, Betty and brother-in-law, J. Dean Lucey; and sister-in-law, Dorothy Fischer Steensrud.
Phyllis' family would like to extend special thanks to Dr. E. Barclay Shultz and Debra Krueger of the Prairie Clinic and Agrace Hospice for their care, kindness and compassion in the past years. And very special thanks to Carmin Dederick for being her "rock" and friend for so long. God's blessings on you all.
A funeral service will be held at VERMONT LUTHERAN CHURCH, 9886 Vermont Church Rd., (off Hwy. 78), Black Earth, WI, at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 2, 2014 with Pastor Chad Christensen officiating. Burial will be in the Vermont Lutheran Church Cemetery. A visitation will be held at the church, one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Phyllis' name to your favorite charity or as you wish.
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