Phyllis Elaine Stark, was born May 19, 1939 to Royal and Edna Fletcher in Eureka. She passed away peacefully shortly after midnight on August 20, 2022, joining her beloved husband, Johnny, and daughter, Paula Marie, just in time to celebrate their birthday with them on the other side.

From her white bathing suit with the red and blue stars to the time she lost her balance on her roller skates (while flirting with a neighborhood boy, of course), her ability to paint colorful pictures through stories of her cherished past provided an invaluable glimpse at the life events that made her the woman we all loved.

Her fondest memories almost always involved at least one sibling or family member, which comes as no surprise considering how many of those she had! As the youngest sibling of eight, she never had to walk through life alone. Whether it was avoiding the two seater outhouse with her brother Newell, sharing outfits with her sister, Evelyn, learning to swim thanks to Carl, or helping raise her countless nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly - her greatest pride was her family.

Phyllis spent her childhood years in the small town of South Fork on the Eel River, moving to Eureka in her early teen years. She always shared what a change it was, going from such a small community to a bustling metropolis like Eureka. She’d always laugh about her first days at Eureka High and how her swim teacher put her in the beginner group - only to find out that just because she didn’t know how to do the butterfly, didn’t keep her from quickly being identified as the strongest swimmer in the class.

She was a beautiful and charismatic young woman — even trying her hand as a local beauty queen, proudly posing on the diving board of the Ingomar Club. Her friends were, and continue to be, too abundant to count. Her stories of boys and dates and Friday night cruising could have been straight out of a movie, but the true love story began when she met the mostly mild-mannered man who would eventually make her his wife in Reno, Nevada on February 25, 1961.

Phyllis and Johnny spent much of the early years of their marriage with their friends at their favorite spots, including the Shanty and the Big Four. In marrying John, she also gained one of the dearest friends of her life in her sister-in-law and next-door neighbor, Mary Winder. The love, laughter, and shenanigans that began with Phyllis and Mary within the walls of those two houses has continued to overflow from generation to generation to this very day.

John and Phyllis started their own family with the birth of their eldest daughter, Lori Anne, in May 1964, just shy of Phyllis’s 25th birthday. Their second daughter, Jennifer, born in November1968, and was blessed with Phyllis’s middle name, and their third and last, Paula Marie, was born on John’s birthday, August 20, 1971.

Phyllis and the girls spent many deer and abalone seasons accompanying John up into the South Fork Mountains and down to Wages Creek along the coast of the Pacific. She was the girls’ most valuable ally as they entered their teen years - often covering up the evidence of their mischief before John ever caught on! She was immeasurably proud of her girls’ musical talents - telling stories of how much better their Jacobs Junior High jazz band was than the one at the High School.

She was known for her “hot cakes,” green beans in tomato sauce, and heaping piles of cookies covering the whole kitchen table during the holidays. She loved telling the story about the time John brought home a Christmas tree that nearly took up the whole living room and how she painstakingly placed silver tinsel, strand by strand, on each and every limb until the entire thing was sufficiently covered.

Phyllis spent many years as an instructional aid and playground monitor at Alice Birney Elementary School. She spoke fondly of Ken Meredith’s kindness and respect for the work she did in his classroom and of the bonds she created with the students and her co-workers, especially on their class trips to San Francisco.

As a true 49ers faithful - things could get interesting when her team played John’s — the Dallas Cowboys. On these occasions, you were guaranteed to find them watching from separate rooms - hollering playful jabs back and forth. Although she rarely missed a Niners game, Phyllis was an OG Gamer Babe for her San Francisco Giants baseball team. Her true love for the game has been passed down to her children and grandchildren and became a special connection between her and her older sister, Evelyn, who, without fail, could be counted on to call to remind Phyllis to change it to channel 38 because the game was about to start. Her love for the Giants is exemplified by the fact that there is a signed Matt Cain baseball placed strategically on a shelf between pictures of the only two other loves of her life - John Stark and John Wayne.

It’s hard to imagine anyone loving their grandchildren as much as Phyllis did. Just as she had with Lori, Jennifer, and Paula, she always had their backs. From spending countless hours in bleachers, watching Jessica, Kennan, and Heather play ball of one kind or another, to endlessly bragging about Cameron’s vast knowledge of history and enthusiasm for watching old movies with her, Phyllis was the grandma most can only dream of having. She never let any of us leave the house or hang up the phone without hearing her say “Love you, Babe”.

Although Phyllis may be physically gone from this earth, we can take comfort in knowing that she’s reunited with her Johnny and Paula Marie and all the others who have been waiting to greet her on the other side - where breathing is easy, Glenn Miller plays on repeat, and she’s always guaranteed the best seat at all the games. For those of us missing her earthside - she continues to live on in our laughter, loyalty, and love for one another, and would want us all to remember the joy that can be found in the simplest of moments.

Phyllis is preceded in death by her parents, husband John, daughter Paula, dearest friend and sister-in-law, Mary, brothers-in-law, George and Stan Stark; siblings, Jane Philp, Ed Fletcher, Carl Fletcher, Virginia Yegge, Marilyn Milligan, and Newell Fletcher, and many other aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who will be greeting her with open arms.

She is survived by her daughters Lori Stark and Jennifer Snipes (Ken); grandchildren Jessica Barnstien (Zane), Cameron Stark, Kennan Snipes, and Heather Snipes; sister, Evelyn Smith, and so many other friends and family who will miss her dearly.

A graveside service is scheduled for September 16 at 1 p.m. at Oceanview Cemetery. A memorial at the family home will immediately follow.

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The obituary above was submitted by Phyllis Stark’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.