IN MEMORIAM: Phyllis Van Alstine;
Cherry Valley Native Taught In L.A.
CHERRY VALLEY – Phyllis J. Van Alstine, Cherry Valley native and longtime teacher in Los Angeles, passed away on Feb. 10, 2018, in Boulder City, Nev., where she had retired. She was 90.
Phyllis was born on July 5, 1927, in Cherry Valley to Alberta and Victor Yerdon. She attended Cherry Valley High School and received a bachelor’s degree in English from SUNY Albany University in 1948.
She married Earl Van Alstine on March 23, 1947. They lived in New York, Massachusetts, and Colorado before finally settling in Los Angeles in the late 1960s.
She earned a master’s in education from Loyola Marymount University there and began her long career at the Los Angeles Unified School District: First as an English teacher in the early 1970s, then as head counselor at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in the late 197’s, and it is where she retired as an assistant principal in 1992.
Phyllis had many passions in life that she was able to enjoy during her retirement in Boulder City: Gardening, long drives in the desert, discovering small historic museums, collecting unique rocks from her many travels in the U.S., Canada and Italy.
First and foremost, she loved genealogy and volunteered at the Paso Verde Library Heritage Room and belonged to the DAR.
She is survived by her daughter, Karen A. Van Alstine, and was preceded in death by her husband, Earl, and son Reginald.
Graveside funeral services will be at 11:30 on May 18, 2018, at the Cherry Valley Cemetery, with a reception to follow at the United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Cherry Valley Museum at 49 Main St., Cherry Valley New York, 13320.
To send online condolences visit www.ottmanfuneralhome.com
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