Phyllis Reece Obituary 'Phyllis entered her Heavenly home on Friday, August 2, 2024 at a Meridian care facility.' Phyllis was born on February 8, 1936, in Salem, Oregon to Ernest and Lorene Martin. She was the oldest of five children, and grew up in the Salem area, attending schools in the Willamette Valley. When she was a senior in high school she moved with her parents to Kalama, Washington where she graduated from Kalama High School in 1952. While in high school she was active in athletics, music and drama and was president of the National Honor Society her senior year. Following high school graduation, she worked in the bank in Kalama for three years before enrolling at Northwest Nazarene College, now NNU. She worked her way through college, graduating with honors from NNC in 1959 with a BA in Elementary Education. While at NNC she met Garth Reece, who was then teaching in Payette, but frequently visited the campus on weekends. They became engaged in December of 1958 and took a train ride to his parents' home in La Habra, California, where they announced their engagement. Since the climate was so drastically different from December in the Northwest, Garth's family felt a snowman would make it seem more like Christmas for Phyllis. They painstakingly found three tumbleweeds of varying size, assembled them to resemble a snowman, followed by many cans of white spray paint. It had to be a boost to the economy! Following Phyllis` graduation from NNC, they were married in Kalama, Washington in August of 1959. Two sons were born to this union-Douglas and Stephen. She began her teaching career in Ontario Junior High, where she taught until taking time off to raise her sons. Her final years of teaching were spent at Annex Elementary School. One of the joys of her teaching career was reading aloud to her class and sharing her love of drama and music with them. During her years at Annex, she directed and accompanied the school Christmas program. It was always her goal to give every child a chance to be on stage as an individual or in a small group setting, making them feel a greater sense of significance. She used music and drama within her own classroom as a way to develop self-confidence and self-worth by sharing it with parents and other students in the school. Teaching children was a passion of her life, and sharing her love with them and nurturing them was a big part of who she was. Many times in her life, she reached out with compassion to the hurting children put into her pathway. She lived in Ontario. Oregon from 1960 to 1998. While in Ontario she was a member of First Church of the Nazarene where she faithfully served as the church organist for 36 years. She received the Distinguished Service Award from the Ontario church for her years as organist. She also taught children in Sunday School, Caravan and shared her love of music with them. Her creativity was used many times to add beauty to her church with floral arrangements for the sanctuary and bulletin board displays in the foyer. She enjoyed decorating her home and, at Christmastime, would have as many as four decorated trees as well as having every room looking festive. She always enjoyed sharing Christmas with her family and friends. Following retirement, she and her husband moved to Nampa to be closer to their children and grandchildren. One of her special delights came when she became Grandma to Jacob, Natalie, Elisa, Seth, Ethan and Asher. She was proud of her sons and supportive of them in their involvements and activities, and later they presented her with two wonderful daughters-in-law, Nadine and Chary. She loved her family and the times they shared a family meal, special occasion or outing. The family vacations at Wallowa Lake created wonderful memories. Throughout her lifetime music was a vital part of who she was, giving her great enjoyment even in her later years-- -playing the piano, attending drama and musical productions, concerts, recitals, or programs in which family members were involved. Gardening was a part of her life from a very early age, having grown up in a family where a large garden was a necessity for preserving food for winter. It was always fun for her to plan, plant and harvest. She especially enjoyed flower gardening in her large yard in Nampa, the beauty of the flowers making the effort worthwhile. Cooking also brought her much pleasure, and her husband and sons were great sports at trying many new dishes. That was what kept cooking interesting to her, and she could browse for minutes at a time looking at cookbooks. She took great delight in making framed needlework pictures for graduation, marriage certificates and birth certificates for her children and grandchildren. She found scrapbooking photo albums for her grandchildren a great source of creativity in her retirement years. She often jokingly referred to her life in eras-- crocheting, knitting, flower arranging, calligraphy, sewing, decorating, needlework, scrapbooking, etc. But throughout her life, music and working with children were a constant-in the home, church, and school. Following retirement, she and her husband purchased a motorhome, which Garth loved to drive, and she was content to be the co-pilot! They had many enjoyable days of traveling and were able to see much of the USA and take in the beauty of God's creation on tours, motor homing, and an Alaskan cruise. She had a generous spirit and joyfully gave, whether to help those in need, to honor those she loved, or support her church or a cause in which she believed. She enjoyed her friends and family, sharing a funny story, or being a supportive listener when needed. She was an enthusiastic fan of BSU football and enjoyed watching games with family and friends (never quietly, however). If a game was very close or a win was needed to stay on top of the conference, she was known to slowly work her way closer to the TV, with increasing vocal response, fully confident that was what an ardent fan should do! She enjoyed following the BSU players who were drafted into the NFL. Phyllis enjoyed making friends, was a source of encouragement to both children and adults throughout her life and prayed for her family daily. She was loved by many. Phyllis was preceded in death by her husband Garth, parents Ernest and Lorene Martin, sisters Sharon Skelton and Echo Olson and her husband Don Olson, Bruce Martin, a nephew Tamal Reece, a sister-in-law Gwen Johnston and her husband Jim Johnston. She is survived by a son Douglas (Nadine) Reece, Meridian and a son Stephen (Chary) Reece. Nampa, a sister Myrna (Hank) Howard, Shelton, Washington, a sister-in-law, Joanne Martin, Colton, Oregon, a brother-in-law Gerow Reece, of California, and a brother-in-law Paul Skelton, of Russellville, Arkansas, six grandchildren-Jacob, Natalie, Elisa, and Seth Reece, Nampa, and Ethan and Asher Reece, Meridian, and many nephews and nieces. A memorial service and celebration of life for Phyllis will be held at the Nampa First Church of the Nazarene chapel, Monday, November 25 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Trinity Pines Camp & Conference Center. Services Celebration of Life Monday November 25, 2024 11:00 AM Nampa First Church of the Nazarene 601 16th Ave S Nampa, Idaho 83651