Phyllis J. Gausman

Phyllis was born May 13, 1933, at home in Klondyke, a daughter of the late Vern and Ruth Senior VanOrder. Due to her father's several re-assignments as a game protector, Phyllis attended four different grade schools, including the experience of a one room schoolhouse, before arriving at the stability of the Wilcox High School, where she graduated in 1951 as the valedictorian of her class. She worked as a secretary in the personnel department of Sylvania in Emporium until her marriage to Thomas E. Gausman at St. Mark Church in Emporium on Aug. 27, 1955. She spent the next 10 years in Emporium raising her young family before a job transfer landed her in Batavia, N.Y., where she continued to raise her family, became involved with St. Joseph's Home School Association and began her volunteer work by becoming the librarian of St. Joseph's Grade School. After 16 years in Batavia, another job transfer landed her in Morristown, Tenn., where she again volunteered, this time as one of the "Debate Mothers" who chaperoned and transported the Morristown West High School Debate Team to competitions in Tennessee and neighboring states.

When retirement time came in 1986, Phyllis and her husband returned "home" to St. Marys, where for the next 20 years she pursued genealogy, tracing maternal and paternal branches on both sides of both families, including visits to historical societies, courthouses, libraries, cemeteries, and Civil War battlefields from New England to Florida and to the West Coast. Her visits to the St. Marys and Benzinger Township Historical Society led her to do volunteer work there for many years. Her love of books, reading and research culminated in the extraction of all the obituaries and news stories of the day from all the newspapers in the historical societies archives which today are now being electronically preserved at the Society. She was also responsible for the last several years of research for names that are on the crosses placed on the hill at St. Mary's Church each year for the Memorial Day Mass.

Phyllis was a faithful member of St. Mary's Church.

Phyllis is survived by her husband of 59 years, Thomas Gausman; two daughters, Judith Sherman of St. Marys and Deborah (Terry) Watterson of Morristown, Tenn.; a son, Edward (Bridget) Gausman of Bellevue, Wash.; sisters, Patricia (Neil) Johnson of St. Marys and Carol Miller of Jersey Shore; a brother, Vern A VanOrder Jr. of Jersey Shore; four grandchildren, Aaron (Jessica) Sherman, Brenda Sherman, Karen Sherman of Batavia and Sarah Sherman of Rochester, N.Y.; three stepgrandchildren, Kristina King of Bellevue, and Mindy (Chris) Blanton and Tyler Watterson, both of Morristown; one great-granddaughter, Hope Sherman of Batavia; two brothers-in-law, William Gausman and James (Rae) Gausman, both of Ridgway; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held at the Lynch-Green Funeral Home on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10 AM at St. Marys Church, Church Street, St. Marys with the Rev. Alfred Patterson, OSB, as celebrant. Burial will follow in St. Marys Catholic Cemetery.

Memorials, if desired, may be made to St. Mary's Church; the St. Marys Historical Society; or Alzheimer's research.

The Lynch-Green Funeral Home, 151 N. Michael St., St. Marys, is handling the arrangements.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.LynchGreenFuneralHome.com .