- Date Of Birth: June 21, 1926
- Date Of Death: December 8, 2021
- State: Arizona
Elaine (Teddy) Elizabeth Del Ray Phillips (1926 – 2021)
Elaine (Teddy) Phillips, Pine, Arizona, passed away in Payson, Arizona on December 8, 2021, after complications from sinus surgery. She had just celebrated her 95th birthday with family and friends in June.
Teddy was born in Lewiston, Minnesota on June 21,1926, to Bert Del Ray and Ruth Hicks. Her parents divorced when she was two. In her early years she would live with her mother and Grandma and Grandpa Hicks near Lake Winona during the school months and the Del Ray farm in Lewiston in the summer.
At the young age of 3, the nation and world plummeted into the Great Depression. She would spend the rest of her childhood with very little. It was through great sacrifice and hard work that both families survived this most difficult time. As a child, with her best friend and sister Gerry, she explored the hills, caves and lakes near their home. Every day was an adventure. Throughout her life, she would enthusiastically share these adventures with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Teddy attended Lincoln grade school in Winona. When she was 9 her mother married Al Fagre and at ten, she moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota with Al, her mother and her baby brother Richard (Dick). She attended Catholic mass on her own as often as possible, did odd jobs to help the family and attended St. Cloud Jr. High and High School.
When Teddy was 15, in the middle of her Sophomore Year, the country went to war and Al was drafted into the defense corps and was assigned to work at the Richmond, California shipyards. A year later, she and her mother and brother joined him and she finish high school at San Leandro High in 1944.
On July 15, 1944 she met her ‶dream man,″ Edward LaVern Phillips. ‶Vern″ as she called him and Teddy were married 3 Ѕ months later in Reno, Nevada on October 29. It was an eternal love that would last on earth for 61 years. Their first boy, Stephen Edward was born ‶9 months, 10 days, 11 hours and 45 minutes later.″ He was followed by David Thomas and Jason Evin. After 5 years living in the Bay Area, they moved to Leta Lane in Sacramento where they would live for the next 47 years.
