Phyllis was born in 1927 in Eugene, Oregon. She married her husband Ron at a young age. Her father-in-law was a WWl veteran and her husband served in the Navy during WWll. In 1950, they moved to Gilchrest, Oregon and resided there for 34 years, where they had six children. Her oldest son, Rudy, started school when her first daughter was born in 1955. Rudy was 19 when he enlisted in the Navy and served 4 years. She said he served in Vietnam and was stationed in the Mediterranean on the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Two years after Rudy joined the Navy, her son Lyle joined the Navy as well and served 4 years on a Naval ship during the Fall of Saigon. Phyllis mentioned that her granddaughter served in the Navy for 4 years and married a Navy veteran as well. Phyllis concludes that joining the Navy became a familial practice and that she is a happy woman.