Phyllis C. Pipher, 81

Phyllis C. Pipher, 81, of Tekamah, died Good Friday morning, March 25, 2005. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 2, at the First Presbyterian Church in Tekamah.

Phyllis Claire Ellenberger was born May 10, 1923, near Mound City, Mo., to Harvey R. and Maude E. (Crist) Ellenberger. Her family spent early years in West Point, where her father was the county attorney. The family later moved to Tekamah, where he father continued his law practice.

She graduated from Tekamah High School in 1941, and attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for two years, where she majored in home economics.

On Nov. 6, 1943, she married her high school sweetheart, Bernard Thomas Pipher at the First Presbyterian Church in Tekamah.

The couple moved to Kansas City, where her husband was a chemical engineer. He then entered the U.S. Navy. The couple lived in Chicago, Ill., and Houston, Texas, while he served in the Navy. Mrs. Pipher worked as a long lines telephone operator and at other secretarial jobs. After the war, the couple moved to Omaha, where her husband completed a law degree. They moved back to Tekamah where her husband joined the law firm of Ellenberger & Pipher.

In the 1970’s, Mrs. Pipher became her husband’s fulltime legal secretary. Although she began to have health problems in 1981 that confined her to a wheelchair, it was a job she continued until her death.

Mrs. Pipher was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Tekamah, where she served on committees, sponsored the youth group and sang in the choir. She was a past president and 60+ year member of Chapter DC of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was past matron and 60+ year member of Tekamah Chapter No. 131 Order of the Eastern Star. She spent five years as a district supervisor for the Grand Chapter of the State of Nebraska of the O.E.S., and was on the council of Job’s Daughters, Bethel 56, of Tekamah. She was past president of the Tekamah Reading Club and member of Choncologists of America, where she served as vice president and membership chairman.

Both Mrs. Pipher and her husband collected rare, specimen seashells. She was an accomplished cook, baker, seamstress, pianist and homemaker. She did many types of handwork, such as knitting, beading and applique and had made beaded Christmas stockings for family members. She was in demand as a speaker, and had developed presentations featuring her collections of designer hats, seashells, dolls, angels and turquoise jewelry.

She is survived by her husband, Bernard; daughter and son-in-law, Pam and Lee Wilhelm of Blair; son and daughter-in-law, Drs. Jim and Mary Pipher of Lincoln; four grandchildren and their spouses; two step-grandchildren and their spouses; six great-grandchildren; sister and brother-in-law, Shirley and Dale McAllister of Craig; sister-in-law, Jean Pipher of Murray, Ky.; four nephews and their spouses; grandnieces and nephews, many cousins, and a host of friends.

Memorials are suggested to the First Presbyterian Church of Tekamah or Memorial Community Hospital in Blair.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~