Updated 18 April 2021
HER PARENTS:
Her father, Edward T. was born in North Yorkshire, England 14 April 1849.
Her mother, Clara Peck was born to George Star Peck & Nancy E Scovel Peck 20 June1858 in Strawberry Point, Clayton Co, Iowa. Strawberry Point is in northeast Iowa, about 60 miles west of Dubuque.
Edward and Clara were married 20 March 1875 in Clayton County. Edward and Clara had four children: Nelli Permelia Alderson (Mrs P.N. Peterson) 14Jan1877–24Dec1948, Elizabeth M. Alderson (Mrs A. E. Freebury) 3Jan1879-30Dec1962; Edward P. Alderson 19May1883-13March1964; and Phillis Marie Alderson (Mrs John WB Fowler) 13June1885–13February1958. Clara (Peck) Alderson died at age 35years, 9 months & 16 days on 6 April 1894. Clara was buried the next day on 7 April 1894 in the Riverside Cemetery in Charles City, Iowa. After the death of his wife, sometime before 1897, Edward married Hattie C. Smith, probably in Floyd County, Iowa. James and Hattie remained in Iowa and added two more children to the Alderson family, a daughter, Harriet (Mrs George V. H. Brown), in 1897, and a son, James B, in 1899. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and Hattie moved with their two youngest children to Long Beach. California. Edward died 9 November1924; Hattie passed away on 31 December 1930. Both are buried in Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach, California.
BIOGRAPHY:
Phillis Marie Alderson was born 13 June 1885, at Strawberry Point, Clayton, Iowa to Edward and Clara Peck Alderson.
Phillis was born with a clubfoot, had had early therapy (possibly surgery), but always required a special black lace oxford built to specification. The addition to the shoe was made of solid leather and was very heavy.
As a young woman, Phillis was the head of handwork (embroidery) department in a large department store in Kansas City, Ks. She assisted in the selection of and taught embroidery, knitting, tatting and crocheting. She was very talented and skilled in the area. (info provided by close family friend-Pat Doyle Reynolds, Chico, CA, January 2001)
Phyllis Marie Alderson, age 24, married Jack Fowler, age 31, on May 30, 1910 in Charles City, Iowa (in Floyd County, in north central Iowa). We don't know how the two of them met or what their individual occupations were at the time. Phyllis's family had first established residence in Charles City in the fall of 1892, after the family had lived for many years in Strawberry Point, Iowa. When Phyllis was 9 years old, her mother, Clara (Peck) Alderson, died of typhoid fever at age 35years on 6 April 1894. Phyllis' father, Edward remarried a few years later. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and his wife, Hattie, moved with their two children, Harriett and James, (half brother and sister of Phillis) to Long Beach. California. Based on the 1910 Federal Census, it appears that Phyllis had not moved to California with her father and step-mother, but had remained in Charles City. Phyllis' two older sisters had married in Iowa, Nellie in 1904, and Elizabeth sometime around 1900 (given that the eldest child of Elizabeth & Alfred was born in approx. 1902) .
Sometime in the next five years, Jack and Phyllis moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. They made their home at 224 Andrick Ave in Fort Scott, Bourbon Co., Kansas, 1914 - 1931.
(As of a 2017 visit to Fort Scott, the house at 224 Andrick is still the house that the Fowler's occupied for 17 years beginning in 1914)
From a 1958 Letter written to Phillis' daughter - Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons from a Fowler family friend in Fort Scott:
"Your Mother (Phillis) and Daddy (John Fowler) went to Kansas City in 1916 to St Anthony Orphanage for the purpose of fostering a baby. They went into the nursery and there were many babies there and they found it rather hard to make a choice but when they came to you – although you were only months old you held out both arms to them. They were quite overcome and had to leave and go outside where both them wee crying. It was the next day they went back and either that day or shortly thereafter you came home with them. I also recall – but don't quite recollect if my or your Mother told me that your limbs were quite curved, but I don't think from anything like rickets. Your Mother bathed, rubbed and massaged them for along time until she got them straightened and I know each treatment brought you closer to her. In fact, I now she so loved you that she could not bear to tell you that you that you were not her own, and I don't think any parents did or could ever loved any child more than you were, or be more proud of a daughter who has grown into a very fine person, rearing a grand family, has a very good husband and what more could anyone wish for."
Phillis was an active member of the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (her husband John worked for the railroad).
The Alderson family was of the Methodist faith. Phillis and Mary Virginia were devout Roman Catholics, Phillis having become a convert to Catholicism shortly before, or at the time of her marriage to John B. Fowler, also a Catholic. When in Kansas, Phillis and Mary Virginia had gone to daily Mass.
Jack Fowler died 21 March 1931, the result of a railroad accident, in Scott Junction, Bourbon, Kansas.
In 1933, following her husband's death, and at the urging of her two brothers, Edward and James, that she come to where they were located, she packed up the family car and drove to California with her lone child, 16 year old Mary Virginia. Edward lived in Paradise, a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California just above Chico. Edward lived in Long Beach, west of Los Angeles on the Pacific coast. Phillis and Mary Virginia drove via US Route 66 to California, initially visiting her half-brother, James, and half-sister, Harriet, in Long Beach. Its unknown what Phillis did with the Fowler home on Andrick St or the family possessions in the home.
"Since the 1920s California had been linked to the Southwest by a well-traveled highway. Scenic and already legendary, U.S Route 66 cut straight across Missouri, Oklahoma, and north Texas on its way to Los Angeles – a direct, modern and inviting pathway west. The actual trip west posed few problems for most migrants. Usually the trip, in automobiles, was fast and uneventful. In a good car families could make it to California in a little as three days. Nights were spent either in auto courts or camping by the roadside. Still some encountered difficulties. Ancient vehicles broke down, families ran out of funds for food and gasoline."
American Exodus – the Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, James N Gregory, pg 32.
"When they piled and strapped their things on the old patched-together flivvers, all that they had was the hope they knew as California—that, and sometimes enough money to buy the gas to get them there. They were "Okies," "Arkies," and "Texies" (in time all would be lumped together in California under the name "Okies") and the highway they traveled West was U.S. Route 66, the road of desperation described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath as "the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness there is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight." Route 66: Ghost Road of Okies, by Thomas W. Pew, Jr., American Heritage Magazine, August 1977
Phillis and her daughter, Mary Virginia, then drove north 550 miles to the small towns of Chico and Paradise, and initially lived with her brother Edward Alderson, his wife and daughter, Annabelle in Paradise (12 miles up into the Sierra Nevada from Chico). They lived with the Alderson family for approximately three months. Mary Virginia rode the school bus each day down the narrow winding road through Butte Creek Canyon to Chico to attend Chico High School as a junior.
While with the Alderson's they were unable to attend Sunday Mass because there was no Catholic Church nor mission in Paradise and the car, a green four-door sedan, they'd driven from Fort Scott had expired upon their arrival in Paradise.
In May 1933, due to the effect that the Great Depression was having on the economy, the married women teachers in Chico High and the elementary schools of the district who had able-bodied husbands were asked to resign their positions for one year. The reason for such a severe action was that so many applications from young graduates of teachers colleges were being received that the School Board felt that married teachers should give way during the depression to such applicants. There were six married women teachers in the high school plus 24 in the elementary schools of the city who were asked to resign. Also in May 1933, the salaries of all teachers in the schools of Chico were reduced 25 percent. History of Butte County, Vol II, Joseph F. McGie
The following information about Phillis in Chico and her relationship with the Doyle family is as was described by Patricia Maria (Doyle) Reynolds to Bob Simmons:
Phillis Fowler went to the Parish priest of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church at Fourth & Chestnut in Chico and told him of her difficult situation and her desire to find a home for herself and daughter. Although she had only been a housewife in Kansas, after her marriage, she was looking for a place where she could work for board and room for both of them. Father John B. Dermody, the priest, said to her, "You are the answer to our prayers. My organist and choir director is in need of a live-in housekeeper and someone to care for her three children, ages, 7, 5 and 3 ½. The lady she has will be leaving to take care of her own grandchildren." The family he referred to was the Carmelita Mitchell Doyle family at 4640 Mansion Ave (later renumbered 302 West Mansion Ave) in Mansion Park, Chico.
Phillis immediately went for an interview and was hired by Mrs Doyle. Pat Doyle Reynolds nearly 70 years later, well remembers the day of the interview. As the eldest of the three, she was always given the responsibility to ascertain that the other two did not say anything out of line.
Mrs Doyle found a home for Mary Virginia around the corner from the Doyle home and her mother. She had room and board in exchange for some housework and carrying for the children of the Terry Family, Joy and twins Patsy and Peggy. The home was within easy walking distance of Chico High School, approximately four blocks. Mary Virginia remained there until completion of high school.
Phillis also suffered from neuritis and rheumatism, probably as a result of rheumatic fever. Early in her adult life, she had fallen fifteen feet on to a stone pavement from a window. That was probably the reason she could not bear children. Phillis was very frank with the children and just explained why the situation was the way it was. In spite her seemingly fair to poor health, she was a remarkable woman, always cheerful, happy, with boundless energy and never a complaint.
Phillis was like a second mother to the three Doyle children; sewing, baking, cooking, washing, ironing and assisting the kids with their studies and music practice. Her hands were never still. When she listened to the radio in the evening, or helped with their homework, she was always making something for a member of the family. She was quarantined with the children through measles, and scarlet fever. Mrs Doyle could not stay at home because it was necessary for her to work. Phillis loved movies and went often. Phillis was an avid reader so often at her request, Pat (Doyle – the eldest child of the three) would go to the library and select books for her to read. This was especially true in the summer time when the family stayed in Paradise to get away from the Sacramento Valley heat. Mrs Doyle, at the time had a 1931 Model A Ford. Mrs Doyle and Phillis and the three children, Patricia, Jack & Mary Virginia-"Teeny", as well as all of the clothes and supplies for the summer were piled in the car for the trip to the mountains. Both women were terrible drivers, although Mrs Doyle was the worst and would scream as she drove around the many curves through the mountains.
Phillis not only handmade all of the Doyle's children's clothes, including embroidered blouses, skirts, but knitted sweaters, made afghans, embroidered table clothes, pillow cases, aprons and anything else that was enhanced by her expertise. In Pat's official high school photo, she is wearing a dark brown, cable knit sweater with leather button made by Phillis. Every summer, she made the kid's special camp clothes for Every Girl's Camp at Butte Meadows, CA. The Camp used the same facility used part of the summer by the Boy Scouts.
Phillis was very involved in St John the Baptist Catholic Church activities in Chico. She sewed for the Catholic Orphanages making dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys which was one of the important programs of the Catholic Ladies Relief Society. Phillis held many offices in the organization including that of President. She helped the Doyle's with their religious studies and was Patsy's sponsor for her Confirmation in the Catholic Church. Several years later, Mary Virginia was Teeny's sponsor for her confirmation.
In 1943, Phillis moved with Mrs Doyle to live in the Bay Area in an apartment in Richmond, California where Mrs Doyle was working in the shipyards as a counselor. From there, they moved to 2498 Fordham Street, Rollingwood, San Pablo, California (just outside of Richmond) where Mrs Doyle had purchased a house. They lived there from about 1946 to 1953. Jack, Teeny and Pat lived there part time until Jack went into the Air Force in 1946, Teeny into the Navy in 1949 and Pat to the Air Force in 1953 after graduation from San Jose State University.
Phillis went to a retirement home about 1952 before Pat Doyle went on active duty in 1953. Phillis later moved to another home in San Francisco which was strictly a retirement home, not a nursing or interim facility. She was living at the Claremont Residence Club at 1500 Sutter Street in San Francisco, paying about $10. per month in rent (this facility still exists as the Hotel Majestic).
Teeny lived and worked in Palo Alto at the time and was with Phillis just before or at the time of her death.
Phillis passed away Thursday, Feb 13, 1958 at Letterman Army Hospital, San Francisco of Coronary heart disease.
Her body was transported to Fort Scott to be buried along side her husband, John Fowler. Rosary service was held at 4 P.M. on Sunday, Feb 16 at Konantz Funeral Chapel led by Fr John Rusteika. High requiem mass was celebrated in Fort Scott by Fr John Rusteika at 11 am at Mary Queen of Angels Church on Feb 17, 1958, after which she was buried in the St Mary's Catholic Cemetery a mile west of Fort Scott.
She was dressed in a black suit with a white collar and of course had her rosary in her hands.
Pallbearers were Julius Karleskint, Bert Karleskint, Tim Mullane, Cliff Wheeler, Roy Hayden and F. S. Popplewell. Members of the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen attended the services in groups.
She was survived by: her daughter Mary Virginia Simmons of Arlington VA; two sisters Mrs George Brown of Long Beach CA, and Mrs AE Freebury, Orchard Iowa, and two brothers James in Annaheim CA and Edward Alderson in Paradise CA
Captain Pat Doyle, USAF, serving an ROTC assignment at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, at the time, attended the funeral representing the Doyle and Simmons families.
Phillis' daughter, Mary Virginia was not able to attend the funeral of her mother. At the time, Mary Virginia was living with her husband, LTC Wilton L. "Bud" Simmons and their four children in Arlington, VA. It was at this time that the greatest snowstorm of the mid 20th century produced up to 3 feet of snow in the Mid-Atlantic Region, with 14 inches at Washington D.C., and 15.5 inches at Baltimore, MD. The storm resulted in 43 deaths and $500 million dollars damage.
Extract of letter from Patricia Doyle (Captain, U.S. Air Force), written the evening of the funeral, Feb 17, 1958, to her brother Jack, sister Teeny, and Mary Virginia & Bud Simmons, mailed from Fort Scott:
"My heart is rather heavy and it is difficult to hold back the tears, but I am relieved and reassured now that our dear Phillis is at rest.
When I received the last phone call from Mary Virginia Saturday night giving me the information that the funeral would be on Monday morning at 11:00 o'clock here in Fort Scott, I had just arrive back in Carbondale [Illinois] from a temporary duty trip to Texas. I felt that one of us should be here on this end since Teeny had been with Phillis in San Francisco. …I departed Carbondale one Sunday night flying as far as Kansas City, and completing the trip by train arriving Fort Scott at 1:10 A.M. Monday. I came immediately here to the home of Teresa Bayless who had made all necessary arrangement with Mary Virginia, here at the funeral home.
This morning Joe Remy and Lucille Jessup from Oklahoma arrived a little before the car came to pick the four of us up to take us to the Konantz Funeral Home. There were quite a few old friends and the Pall Bearers there. The book was signed and the viewing for the last time before Father Rustieka, John B. came for blessing and prayers. Phillis looked lovely --- especially her hair and face. I had given her a Toni permanent New Year's Eve when I was in San Francisco and it seemed to have held very well. The black suit she was wearing with the white collar gave her face a pink glow as did the pink – very pale —casket. The casket piece was a lovely spray of white carnations with red roses, and the casket corsage of gardenias. The large basket of mixed pink carnations with butterfly iris near the foot was sent by the Doyle Family. The names will be sent to Mary Virginia by the Home.
A Requiem High Mass was sung in Mary Queen of Angles Catholic Church—Phillis' parish church here in Fort Scott. The one hundred and seventeen (117) children attending the St Mary's School next door (where M.V. went to school) were there as well as many old friends. The church was nearly full. The Mass was sung by the children and was beautifully done. It really touched my heart and the tears flowed very freely because it seemed so fitting that the church should be so filled with children that she loved. Four altar boys served. The children all received Holy Communion in a body for her. Following the service we went to the Catholic Cemetery where Mr Fowler is buried and had the service there. Loretta Karleskint (one of the twins you used to hear Phillis talk about with us).
I am very grateful that I was near enough to be able to represent all of you, and am leaving Fort Scott knowing that this is where she would want to be. Home to rest. Although twenty-five years have lapsed since the Fowlers –Phillis and daughter left this area, the imprint of their personalities have never gone. This was evidenced by the friends I've seen and talked with.
With love and affection to all, Pat"
Extract - letter from Teresa Bayless Fort Scott, May 19, 1958 to Mary Virginia Simmons:
"…I have also often thought of how good God was to you and your Mother when you left Fort Scott to make your home in Calif. A lot of people did not think you would make it all the way in the car you had. It doesn't in some ways seem like you have been gone from here for 25 years, but in others it seems much longer than that. I, like you, feel your Mother never did really get over the very sudden death of your Father, but she certainly had the courage and faith to carry on for a good many years after, during which both of you traveled some pretty rough roads, but you like myself had the faith and courage to keep going until you got off the bad road, and am sure God will not over look that and also that your Mother and Father in their eternal home will give you a lot of assistance spiritually as well as temporally."
DIRECTIONS TO GRAVE: To find St Mary's Cemetery, go west on W 2nd Street from the town center, over Marmaton River, past Bridal Veil Park, approx. ½ miles west of the river bridge W 2nd Street bends to the north, after approx. 400 yards, turn left (west) on Locust Road. Travel about 1/3 mile to the cemetery entrance. Enter the St Mary's Cemetery at the gateway entrance. The road immediately splits as it heads up the slight rise. Stay to the right, and continue along the tree lined road, up the slight rise, counting eight (8) trees on the left. The grave, marked by the gray granite headstone, is on the left, just past the eighth tree.
Memorial created and maintained by Robert "Bob" Simmons, son of the late Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons and Colonel Wilton L Simmons, grandson of Phillis Alderson Fowler; Colorado Springs, Colorado; [email protected]
Links to FindAGrave Memorials of Alderson Family Members
Maternal Grandfather-George Peck1822-1900
Maternal Grandmother-Nancy Scovel1836-01
Son-in-Law WL Simmons1910-1972
Grandson Charles F Simmons1945-1973
Granddaughter Jane A Simmons1953-1976
Close Family Friend-Carmelita P (Mitchell) Doyle
HER PARENTS:
Her father, Edward T. was born in North Yorkshire, England 14 April 1849.
Her mother, Clara Peck was born to George Star Peck & Nancy E Scovel Peck 20 June1858 in Strawberry Point, Clayton Co, Iowa. Strawberry Point is in northeast Iowa, about 60 miles west of Dubuque.
Edward and Clara were married 20 March 1875 in Clayton County. Edward and Clara had four children: Nelli Permelia Alderson (Mrs P.N. Peterson) 14Jan1877–24Dec1948, Elizabeth M. Alderson (Mrs A. E. Freebury) 3Jan1879-30Dec1962; Edward P. Alderson 19May1883-13March1964; and Phillis Marie Alderson (Mrs John WB Fowler) 13June1885–13February1958. Clara (Peck) Alderson died at age 35years, 9 months & 16 days on 6 April 1894. Clara was buried the next day on 7 April 1894 in the Riverside Cemetery in Charles City, Iowa. After the death of his wife, sometime before 1897, Edward married Hattie C. Smith, probably in Floyd County, Iowa. James and Hattie remained in Iowa and added two more children to the Alderson family, a daughter, Harriet (Mrs George V. H. Brown), in 1897, and a son, James B, in 1899. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and Hattie moved with their two youngest children to Long Beach. California. Edward died 9 November1924; Hattie passed away on 31 December 1930. Both are buried in Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach, California.
BIOGRAPHY:
Phillis Marie Alderson was born 13 June 1885, at Strawberry Point, Clayton, Iowa to Edward and Clara Peck Alderson.
Phillis was born with a clubfoot, had had early therapy (possibly surgery), but always required a special black lace oxford built to specification. The addition to the shoe was made of solid leather and was very heavy.
As a young woman, Phillis was the head of handwork (embroidery) department in a large department store in Kansas City, Ks. She assisted in the selection of and taught embroidery, knitting, tatting and crocheting. She was very talented and skilled in the area. (info provided by close family friend-Pat Doyle Reynolds, Chico, CA, January 2001)
Phyllis Marie Alderson, age 24, married Jack Fowler, age 31, on May 30, 1910 in Charles City, Iowa (in Floyd County, in north central Iowa). We don't know how the two of them met or what their individual occupations were at the time. Phyllis's family had first established residence in Charles City in the fall of 1892, after the family had lived for many years in Strawberry Point, Iowa. When Phyllis was 9 years old, her mother, Clara (Peck) Alderson, died of typhoid fever at age 35years on 6 April 1894. Phyllis' father, Edward remarried a few years later. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and his wife, Hattie, moved with their two children, Harriett and James, (half brother and sister of Phillis) to Long Beach. California. Based on the 1910 Federal Census, it appears that Phyllis had not moved to California with her father and step-mother, but had remained in Charles City. Phyllis' two older sisters had married in Iowa, Nellie in 1904, and Elizabeth sometime around 1900 (given that the eldest child of Elizabeth & Alfred was born in approx. 1902) .
Sometime in the next five years, Jack and Phyllis moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. They made their home at 224 Andrick Ave in Fort Scott, Bourbon Co., Kansas, 1914 - 1931.
(As of a 2017 visit to Fort Scott, the house at 224 Andrick is still the house that the Fowler's occupied for 17 years beginning in 1914)
From a 1958 Letter written to Phillis' daughter - Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons from a Fowler family friend in Fort Scott:
"Your Mother (Phillis) and Daddy (John Fowler) went to Kansas City in 1916 to St Anthony Orphanage for the purpose of fostering a baby. They went into the nursery and there were many babies there and they found it rather hard to make a choice but when they came to you – although you were only months old you held out both arms to them. They were quite overcome and had to leave and go outside where both them wee crying. It was the next day they went back and either that day or shortly thereafter you came home with them. I also recall – but don't quite recollect if my or your Mother told me that your limbs were quite curved, but I don't think from anything like rickets. Your Mother bathed, rubbed and massaged them for along time until she got them straightened and I know each treatment brought you closer to her. In fact, I now she so loved you that she could not bear to tell you that you that you were not her own, and I don't think any parents did or could ever loved any child more than you were, or be more proud of a daughter who has grown into a very fine person, rearing a grand family, has a very good husband and what more could anyone wish for."
Phillis was an active member of the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (her husband John worked for the railroad).
The Alderson family was of the Methodist faith. Phillis and Mary Virginia were devout Roman Catholics, Phillis having become a convert to Catholicism shortly before, or at the time of her marriage to John B. Fowler, also a Catholic. When in Kansas, Phillis and Mary Virginia had gone to daily Mass.
Jack Fowler died 21 March 1931, the result of a railroad accident, in Scott Junction, Bourbon, Kansas.
In 1933, following her husband's death, and at the urging of her two brothers, Edward and James, that she come to where they were located, she packed up the family car and drove to California with her lone child, 16 year old Mary Virginia. Edward lived in Paradise, a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California just above Chico. Edward lived in Long Beach, west of Los Angeles on the Pacific coast. Phillis and Mary Virginia drove via US Route 66 to California, initially visiting her half-brother, James, and half-sister, Harriet, in Long Beach. Its unknown what Phillis did with the Fowler home on Andrick St or the family possessions in the home.
"Since the 1920s California had been linked to the Southwest by a well-traveled highway. Scenic and already legendary, U.S Route 66 cut straight across Missouri, Oklahoma, and north Texas on its way to Los Angeles – a direct, modern and inviting pathway west. The actual trip west posed few problems for most migrants. Usually the trip, in automobiles, was fast and uneventful. In a good car families could make it to California in a little as three days. Nights were spent either in auto courts or camping by the roadside. Still some encountered difficulties. Ancient vehicles broke down, families ran out of funds for food and gasoline."
American Exodus – the Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, James N Gregory, pg 32.
"When they piled and strapped their things on the old patched-together flivvers, all that they had was the hope they knew as California—that, and sometimes enough money to buy the gas to get them there. They were "Okies," "Arkies," and "Texies" (in time all would be lumped together in California under the name "Okies") and the highway they traveled West was U.S. Route 66, the road of desperation described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath as "the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness there is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight." Route 66: Ghost Road of Okies, by Thomas W. Pew, Jr., American Heritage Magazine, August 1977
Phillis and her daughter, Mary Virginia, then drove north 550 miles to the small towns of Chico and Paradise, and initially lived with her brother Edward Alderson, his wife and daughter, Annabelle in Paradise (12 miles up into the Sierra Nevada from Chico). They lived with the Alderson family for approximately three months. Mary Virginia rode the school bus each day down the narrow winding road through Butte Creek Canyon to Chico to attend Chico High School as a junior.
While with the Alderson's they were unable to attend Sunday Mass because there was no Catholic Church nor mission in Paradise and the car, a green four-door sedan, they'd driven from Fort Scott had expired upon their arrival in Paradise.
In May 1933, due to the effect that the Great Depression was having on the economy, the married women teachers in Chico High and the elementary schools of the district who had able-bodied husbands were asked to resign their positions for one year. The reason for such a severe action was that so many applications from young graduates of teachers colleges were being received that the School Board felt that married teachers should give way during the depression to such applicants. There were six married women teachers in the high school plus 24 in the elementary schools of the city who were asked to resign. Also in May 1933, the salaries of all teachers in the schools of Chico were reduced 25 percent. History of Butte County, Vol II, Joseph F. McGie
The following information about Phillis in Chico and her relationship with the Doyle family is as was described by Patricia Maria (Doyle) Reynolds to Bob Simmons:
Phillis Fowler went to the Parish priest of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church at Fourth & Chestnut in Chico and told him of her difficult situation and her desire to find a home for herself and daughter. Although she had only been a housewife in Kansas, after her marriage, she was looking for a place where she could work for board and room for both of them. Father John B. Dermody, the priest, said to her, "You are the answer to our prayers. My organist and choir director is in need of a live-in housekeeper and someone to care for her three children, ages, 7, 5 and 3 ½. The lady she has will be leaving to take care of her own grandchildren." The family he referred to was the Carmelita Mitchell Doyle family at 4640 Mansion Ave (later renumbered 302 West Mansion Ave) in Mansion Park, Chico.
Phillis immediately went for an interview and was hired by Mrs Doyle. Pat Doyle Reynolds nearly 70 years later, well remembers the day of the interview. As the eldest of the three, she was always given the responsibility to ascertain that the other two did not say anything out of line.
Mrs Doyle found a home for Mary Virginia around the corner from the Doyle home and her mother. She had room and board in exchange for some housework and carrying for the children of the Terry Family, Joy and twins Patsy and Peggy. The home was within easy walking distance of Chico High School, approximately four blocks. Mary Virginia remained there until completion of high school.
Phillis also suffered from neuritis and rheumatism, probably as a result of rheumatic fever. Early in her adult life, she had fallen fifteen feet on to a stone pavement from a window. That was probably the reason she could not bear children. Phillis was very frank with the children and just explained why the situation was the way it was. In spite her seemingly fair to poor health, she was a remarkable woman, always cheerful, happy, with boundless energy and never a complaint.
Phillis was like a second mother to the three Doyle children; sewing, baking, cooking, washing, ironing and assisting the kids with their studies and music practice. Her hands were never still. When she listened to the radio in the evening, or helped with their homework, she was always making something for a member of the family. She was quarantined with the children through measles, and scarlet fever. Mrs Doyle could not stay at home because it was necessary for her to work. Phillis loved movies and went often. Phillis was an avid reader so often at her request, Pat (Doyle – the eldest child of the three) would go to the library and select books for her to read. This was especially true in the summer time when the family stayed in Paradise to get away from the Sacramento Valley heat. Mrs Doyle, at the time had a 1931 Model A Ford. Mrs Doyle and Phillis and the three children, Patricia, Jack & Mary Virginia-"Teeny", as well as all of the clothes and supplies for the summer were piled in the car for the trip to the mountains. Both women were terrible drivers, although Mrs Doyle was the worst and would scream as she drove around the many curves through the mountains.
Phillis not only handmade all of the Doyle's children's clothes, including embroidered blouses, skirts, but knitted sweaters, made afghans, embroidered table clothes, pillow cases, aprons and anything else that was enhanced by her expertise. In Pat's official high school photo, she is wearing a dark brown, cable knit sweater with leather button made by Phillis. Every summer, she made the kid's special camp clothes for Every Girl's Camp at Butte Meadows, CA. The Camp used the same facility used part of the summer by the Boy Scouts.
Phillis was very involved in St John the Baptist Catholic Church activities in Chico. She sewed for the Catholic Orphanages making dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys which was one of the important programs of the Catholic Ladies Relief Society. Phillis held many offices in the organization including that of President. She helped the Doyle's with their religious studies and was Patsy's sponsor for her Confirmation in the Catholic Church. Several years later, Mary Virginia was Teeny's sponsor for her confirmation.
In 1943, Phillis moved with Mrs Doyle to live in the Bay Area in an apartment in Richmond, California where Mrs Doyle was working in the shipyards as a counselor. From there, they moved to 2498 Fordham Street, Rollingwood, San Pablo, California (just outside of Richmond) where Mrs Doyle had purchased a house. They lived there from about 1946 to 1953. Jack, Teeny and Pat lived there part time until Jack went into the Air Force in 1946, Teeny into the Navy in 1949 and Pat to the Air Force in 1953 after graduation from San Jose State University.
Phillis went to a retirement home about 1952 before Pat Doyle went on active duty in 1953. Phillis later moved to another home in San Francisco which was strictly a retirement home, not a nursing or interim facility. She was living at the Claremont Residence Club at 1500 Sutter Street in San Francisco, paying about $10. per month in rent (this facility still exists as the Hotel Majestic).
Teeny lived and worked in Palo Alto at the time and was with Phillis just before or at the time of her death.
Phillis passed away Thursday, Feb 13, 1958 at Letterman Army Hospital, San Francisco of Coronary heart disease.
Her body was transported to Fort Scott to be buried along side her husband, John Fowler. Rosary service was held at 4 P.M. on Sunday, Feb 16 at Konantz Funeral Chapel led by Fr John Rusteika. High requiem mass was celebrated in Fort Scott by Fr John Rusteika at 11 am at Mary Queen of Angels Church on Feb 17, 1958, after which she was buried in the St Mary's Catholic Cemetery a mile west of Fort Scott.
She was dressed in a black suit with a white collar and of course had her rosary in her hands.
Pallbearers were Julius Karleskint, Bert Karleskint, Tim Mullane, Cliff Wheeler, Roy Hayden and F. S. Popplewell. Members of the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen attended the services in groups.
She was survived by: her daughter Mary Virginia Simmons of Arlington VA; two sisters Mrs George Brown of Long Beach CA, and Mrs AE Freebury, Orchard Iowa, and two brothers James in Annaheim CA and Edward Alderson in Paradise CA
Captain Pat Doyle, USAF, serving an ROTC assignment at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, at the time, attended the funeral representing the Doyle and Simmons families.
Phillis' daughter, Mary Virginia was not able to attend the funeral of her mother. At the time, Mary Virginia was living with her husband, LTC Wilton L. "Bud" Simmons and their four children in Arlington, VA. It was at this time that the greatest snowstorm of the mid 20th century produced up to 3 feet of snow in the Mid-Atlantic Region, with 14 inches at Washington D.C., and 15.5 inches at Baltimore, MD. The storm resulted in 43 deaths and $500 million dollars damage.
Extract of letter from Patricia Doyle (Captain, U.S. Air Force), written the evening of the funeral, Feb 17, 1958, to her brother Jack, sister Teeny, and Mary Virginia & Bud Simmons, mailed from Fort Scott:
"My heart is rather heavy and it is difficult to hold back the tears, but I am relieved and reassured now that our dear Phillis is at rest.
When I received the last phone call from Mary Virginia Saturday night giving me the information that the funeral would be on Monday morning at 11:00 o'clock here in Fort Scott, I had just arrive back in Carbondale [Illinois] from a temporary duty trip to Texas. I felt that one of us should be here on this end since Teeny had been with Phillis in San Francisco. …I departed Carbondale one Sunday night flying as far as Kansas City, and completing the trip by train arriving Fort Scott at 1:10 A.M. Monday. I came immediately here to the home of Teresa Bayless who had made all necessary arrangement with Mary Virginia, here at the funeral home.
This morning Joe Remy and Lucille Jessup from Oklahoma arrived a little before the car came to pick the four of us up to take us to the Konantz Funeral Home. There were quite a few old friends and the Pall Bearers there. The book was signed and the viewing for the last time before Father Rustieka, John B. came for blessing and prayers. Phillis looked lovely --- especially her hair and face. I had given her a Toni permanent New Year's Eve when I was in San Francisco and it seemed to have held very well. The black suit she was wearing with the white collar gave her face a pink glow as did the pink – very pale —casket. The casket piece was a lovely spray of white carnations with red roses, and the casket corsage of gardenias. The large basket of mixed pink carnations with butterfly iris near the foot was sent by the Doyle Family. The names will be sent to Mary Virginia by the Home.
A Requiem High Mass was sung in Mary Queen of Angles Catholic Church—Phillis' parish church here in Fort Scott. The one hundred and seventeen (117) children attending the St Mary's School next door (where M.V. went to school) were there as well as many old friends. The church was nearly full. The Mass was sung by the children and was beautifully done. It really touched my heart and the tears flowed very freely because it seemed so fitting that the church should be so filled with children that she loved. Four altar boys served. The children all received Holy Communion in a body for her. Following the service we went to the Catholic Cemetery where Mr Fowler is buried and had the service there. Loretta Karleskint (one of the twins you used to hear Phillis talk about with us).
I am very grateful that I was near enough to be able to represent all of you, and am leaving Fort Scott knowing that this is where she would want to be. Home to rest. Although twenty-five years have lapsed since the Fowlers –Phillis and daughter left this area, the imprint of their personalities have never gone. This was evidenced by the friends I've seen and talked with.
With love and affection to all, Pat"
Extract - letter from Teresa Bayless Fort Scott, May 19, 1958 to Mary Virginia Simmons:
"…I have also often thought of how good God was to you and your Mother when you left Fort Scott to make your home in Calif. A lot of people did not think you would make it all the way in the car you had. It doesn't in some ways seem like you have been gone from here for 25 years, but in others it seems much longer than that. I, like you, feel your Mother never did really get over the very sudden death of your Father, but she certainly had the courage and faith to carry on for a good many years after, during which both of you traveled some pretty rough roads, but you like myself had the faith and courage to keep going until you got off the bad road, and am sure God will not over look that and also that your Mother and Father in their eternal home will give you a lot of assistance spiritually as well as temporally."
DIRECTIONS TO GRAVE: To find St Mary's Cemetery, go west on W 2nd Street from the town center, over Marmaton River, past Bridal Veil Park, approx. ½ miles west of the river bridge W 2nd Street bends to the north, after approx. 400 yards, turn left (west) on Locust Road. Travel about 1/3 mile to the cemetery entrance. Enter the St Mary's Cemetery at the gateway entrance. The road immediately splits as it heads up the slight rise. Stay to the right, and continue along the tree lined road, up the slight rise, counting eight (8) trees on the left. The grave, marked by the gray granite headstone, is on the left, just past the eighth tree.
Memorial created and maintained by Robert "Bob" Simmons, son of the late Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons and Colonel Wilton L Simmons, grandson of Phillis Alderson Fowler; Colorado Springs, Colorado; [email protected]
Links to FindAGrave Memorials of Alderson Family Members
Maternal Grandfather-George Peck1822-1900
Maternal Grandmother-Nancy Scovel1836-01
Son-in-Law WL Simmons1910-1972
Grandson Charles F Simmons1945-1973
Granddaughter Jane A Simmons1953-1976
Close Family Friend-Carmelita P (Mitchell) Doyle
Updated 18 April 2021
HER PARENTS:
Her father, Edward T. was born in North Yorkshire, England 14 April 1849.
Her mother, Clara Peck was born to George Star Peck & Nancy E Scovel Peck 20 June1858 in Strawberry Point, Clayton Co, Iowa. Strawberry Point is in northeast Iowa, about 60 miles west of Dubuque.
Edward and Clara were married 20 March 1875 in Clayton County. Edward and Clara had four children: Nelli Permelia Alderson (Mrs P.N. Peterson) 14Jan1877–24Dec1948, Elizabeth M. Alderson (Mrs A. E. Freebury) 3Jan1879-30Dec1962; Edward P. Alderson 19May1883-13March1964; and Phillis Marie Alderson (Mrs John WB Fowler) 13June1885–13February1958. Clara (Peck) Alderson died at age 35years, 9 months & 16 days on 6 April 1894. Clara was buried the next day on 7 April 1894 in the Riverside Cemetery in Charles City, Iowa. After the death of his wife, sometime before 1897, Edward married Hattie C. Smith, probably in Floyd County, Iowa. James and Hattie remained in Iowa and added two more children to the Alderson family, a daughter, Harriet (Mrs George V. H. Brown), in 1897, and a son, James B, in 1899. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and Hattie moved with their two youngest children to Long Beach. California. Edward died 9 November1924; Hattie passed away on 31 December 1930. Both are buried in Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach, California.
BIOGRAPHY:
Phillis Marie Alderson was born 13 June 1885, at Strawberry Point, Clayton, Iowa to Edward and Clara Peck Alderson.
Phillis was born with a clubfoot, had had early therapy (possibly surgery), but always required a special black lace oxford built to specification. The addition to the shoe was made of solid leather and was very heavy.
As a young woman, Phillis was the head of handwork (embroidery) department in a large department store in Kansas City, Ks. She assisted in the selection of and taught embroidery, knitting, tatting and crocheting. She was very talented and skilled in the area. (info provided by close family friend-Pat Doyle Reynolds, Chico, CA, January 2001)
Phyllis Marie Alderson, age 24, married Jack Fowler, age 31, on May 30, 1910 in Charles City, Iowa (in Floyd County, in north central Iowa). We don't know how the two of them met or what their individual occupations were at the time. Phyllis's family had first established residence in Charles City in the fall of 1892, after the family had lived for many years in Strawberry Point, Iowa. When Phyllis was 9 years old, her mother, Clara (Peck) Alderson, died of typhoid fever at age 35years on 6 April 1894. Phyllis' father, Edward remarried a few years later. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and his wife, Hattie, moved with their two children, Harriett and James, (half brother and sister of Phillis) to Long Beach. California. Based on the 1910 Federal Census, it appears that Phyllis had not moved to California with her father and step-mother, but had remained in Charles City. Phyllis' two older sisters had married in Iowa, Nellie in 1904, and Elizabeth sometime around 1900 (given that the eldest child of Elizabeth & Alfred was born in approx. 1902) .
Sometime in the next five years, Jack and Phyllis moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. They made their home at 224 Andrick Ave in Fort Scott, Bourbon Co., Kansas, 1914 - 1931.
(As of a 2017 visit to Fort Scott, the house at 224 Andrick is still the house that the Fowler's occupied for 17 years beginning in 1914)
From a 1958 Letter written to Phillis' daughter - Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons from a Fowler family friend in Fort Scott:
"Your Mother (Phillis) and Daddy (John Fowler) went to Kansas City in 1916 to St Anthony Orphanage for the purpose of fostering a baby. They went into the nursery and there were many babies there and they found it rather hard to make a choice but when they came to you – although you were only months old you held out both arms to them. They were quite overcome and had to leave and go outside where both them wee crying. It was the next day they went back and either that day or shortly thereafter you came home with them. I also recall – but don't quite recollect if my or your Mother told me that your limbs were quite curved, but I don't think from anything like rickets. Your Mother bathed, rubbed and massaged them for along time until she got them straightened and I know each treatment brought you closer to her. In fact, I now she so loved you that she could not bear to tell you that you that you were not her own, and I don't think any parents did or could ever loved any child more than you were, or be more proud of a daughter who has grown into a very fine person, rearing a grand family, has a very good husband and what more could anyone wish for."
Phillis was an active member of the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (her husband John worked for the railroad).
The Alderson family was of the Methodist faith. Phillis and Mary Virginia were devout Roman Catholics, Phillis having become a convert to Catholicism shortly before, or at the time of her marriage to John B. Fowler, also a Catholic. When in Kansas, Phillis and Mary Virginia had gone to daily Mass.
Jack Fowler died 21 March 1931, the result of a railroad accident, in Scott Junction, Bourbon, Kansas.
In 1933, following her husband's death, and at the urging of her two brothers, Edward and James, that she come to where they were located, she packed up the family car and drove to California with her lone child, 16 year old Mary Virginia. Edward lived in Paradise, a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California just above Chico. Edward lived in Long Beach, west of Los Angeles on the Pacific coast. Phillis and Mary Virginia drove via US Route 66 to California, initially visiting her half-brother, James, and half-sister, Harriet, in Long Beach. Its unknown what Phillis did with the Fowler home on Andrick St or the family possessions in the home.
"Since the 1920s California had been linked to the Southwest by a well-traveled highway. Scenic and already legendary, U.S Route 66 cut straight across Missouri, Oklahoma, and north Texas on its way to Los Angeles – a direct, modern and inviting pathway west. The actual trip west posed few problems for most migrants. Usually the trip, in automobiles, was fast and uneventful. In a good car families could make it to California in a little as three days. Nights were spent either in auto courts or camping by the roadside. Still some encountered difficulties. Ancient vehicles broke down, families ran out of funds for food and gasoline."
American Exodus – the Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, James N Gregory, pg 32.
"When they piled and strapped their things on the old patched-together flivvers, all that they had was the hope they knew as California—that, and sometimes enough money to buy the gas to get them there. They were "Okies," "Arkies," and "Texies" (in time all would be lumped together in California under the name "Okies") and the highway they traveled West was U.S. Route 66, the road of desperation described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath as "the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness there is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight." Route 66: Ghost Road of Okies, by Thomas W. Pew, Jr., American Heritage Magazine, August 1977
Phillis and her daughter, Mary Virginia, then drove north 550 miles to the small towns of Chico and Paradise, and initially lived with her brother Edward Alderson, his wife and daughter, Annabelle in Paradise (12 miles up into the Sierra Nevada from Chico). They lived with the Alderson family for approximately three months. Mary Virginia rode the school bus each day down the narrow winding road through Butte Creek Canyon to Chico to attend Chico High School as a junior.
While with the Alderson's they were unable to attend Sunday Mass because there was no Catholic Church nor mission in Paradise and the car, a green four-door sedan, they'd driven from Fort Scott had expired upon their arrival in Paradise.
In May 1933, due to the effect that the Great Depression was having on the economy, the married women teachers in Chico High and the elementary schools of the district who had able-bodied husbands were asked to resign their positions for one year. The reason for such a severe action was that so many applications from young graduates of teachers colleges were being received that the School Board felt that married teachers should give way during the depression to such applicants. There were six married women teachers in the high school plus 24 in the elementary schools of the city who were asked to resign. Also in May 1933, the salaries of all teachers in the schools of Chico were reduced 25 percent. History of Butte County, Vol II, Joseph F. McGie
The following information about Phillis in Chico and her relationship with the Doyle family is as was described by Patricia Maria (Doyle) Reynolds to Bob Simmons:
Phillis Fowler went to the Parish priest of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church at Fourth & Chestnut in Chico and told him of her difficult situation and her desire to find a home for herself and daughter. Although she had only been a housewife in Kansas, after her marriage, she was looking for a place where she could work for board and room for both of them. Father John B. Dermody, the priest, said to her, "You are the answer to our prayers. My organist and choir director is in need of a live-in housekeeper and someone to care for her three children, ages, 7, 5 and 3 ½. The lady she has will be leaving to take care of her own grandchildren." The family he referred to was the Carmelita Mitchell Doyle family at 4640 Mansion Ave (later renumbered 302 West Mansion Ave) in Mansion Park, Chico.
Phillis immediately went for an interview and was hired by Mrs Doyle. Pat Doyle Reynolds nearly 70 years later, well remembers the day of the interview. As the eldest of the three, she was always given the responsibility to ascertain that the other two did not say anything out of line.
Mrs Doyle found a home for Mary Virginia around the corner from the Doyle home and her mother. She had room and board in exchange for some housework and carrying for the children of the Terry Family, Joy and twins Patsy and Peggy. The home was within easy walking distance of Chico High School, approximately four blocks. Mary Virginia remained there until completion of high school.
Phillis also suffered from neuritis and rheumatism, probably as a result of rheumatic fever. Early in her adult life, she had fallen fifteen feet on to a stone pavement from a window. That was probably the reason she could not bear children. Phillis was very frank with the children and just explained why the situation was the way it was. In spite her seemingly fair to poor health, she was a remarkable woman, always cheerful, happy, with boundless energy and never a complaint.
Phillis was like a second mother to the three Doyle children; sewing, baking, cooking, washing, ironing and assisting the kids with their studies and music practice. Her hands were never still. When she listened to the radio in the evening, or helped with their homework, she was always making something for a member of the family. She was quarantined with the children through measles, and scarlet fever. Mrs Doyle could not stay at home because it was necessary for her to work. Phillis loved movies and went often. Phillis was an avid reader so often at her request, Pat (Doyle – the eldest child of the three) would go to the library and select books for her to read. This was especially true in the summer time when the family stayed in Paradise to get away from the Sacramento Valley heat. Mrs Doyle, at the time had a 1931 Model A Ford. Mrs Doyle and Phillis and the three children, Patricia, Jack & Mary Virginia-"Teeny", as well as all of the clothes and supplies for the summer were piled in the car for the trip to the mountains. Both women were terrible drivers, although Mrs Doyle was the worst and would scream as she drove around the many curves through the mountains.
Phillis not only handmade all of the Doyle's children's clothes, including embroidered blouses, skirts, but knitted sweaters, made afghans, embroidered table clothes, pillow cases, aprons and anything else that was enhanced by her expertise. In Pat's official high school photo, she is wearing a dark brown, cable knit sweater with leather button made by Phillis. Every summer, she made the kid's special camp clothes for Every Girl's Camp at Butte Meadows, CA. The Camp used the same facility used part of the summer by the Boy Scouts.
Phillis was very involved in St John the Baptist Catholic Church activities in Chico. She sewed for the Catholic Orphanages making dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys which was one of the important programs of the Catholic Ladies Relief Society. Phillis held many offices in the organization including that of President. She helped the Doyle's with their religious studies and was Patsy's sponsor for her Confirmation in the Catholic Church. Several years later, Mary Virginia was Teeny's sponsor for her confirmation.
In 1943, Phillis moved with Mrs Doyle to live in the Bay Area in an apartment in Richmond, California where Mrs Doyle was working in the shipyards as a counselor. From there, they moved to 2498 Fordham Street, Rollingwood, San Pablo, California (just outside of Richmond) where Mrs Doyle had purchased a house. They lived there from about 1946 to 1953. Jack, Teeny and Pat lived there part time until Jack went into the Air Force in 1946, Teeny into the Navy in 1949 and Pat to the Air Force in 1953 after graduation from San Jose State University.
Phillis went to a retirement home about 1952 before Pat Doyle went on active duty in 1953. Phillis later moved to another home in San Francisco which was strictly a retirement home, not a nursing or interim facility. She was living at the Claremont Residence Club at 1500 Sutter Street in San Francisco, paying about $10. per month in rent (this facility still exists as the Hotel Majestic).
Teeny lived and worked in Palo Alto at the time and was with Phillis just before or at the time of her death.
Phillis passed away Thursday, Feb 13, 1958 at Letterman Army Hospital, San Francisco of Coronary heart disease.
Her body was transported to Fort Scott to be buried along side her husband, John Fowler. Rosary service was held at 4 P.M. on Sunday, Feb 16 at Konantz Funeral Chapel led by Fr John Rusteika. High requiem mass was celebrated in Fort Scott by Fr John Rusteika at 11 am at Mary Queen of Angels Church on Feb 17, 1958, after which she was buried in the St Mary's Catholic Cemetery a mile west of Fort Scott.
She was dressed in a black suit with a white collar and of course had her rosary in her hands.
Pallbearers were Julius Karleskint, Bert Karleskint, Tim Mullane, Cliff Wheeler, Roy Hayden and F. S. Popplewell. Members of the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen attended the services in groups.
She was survived by: her daughter Mary Virginia Simmons of Arlington VA; two sisters Mrs George Brown of Long Beach CA, and Mrs AE Freebury, Orchard Iowa, and two brothers James in Annaheim CA and Edward Alderson in Paradise CA
Captain Pat Doyle, USAF, serving an ROTC assignment at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, at the time, attended the funeral representing the Doyle and Simmons families.
Phillis' daughter, Mary Virginia was not able to attend the funeral of her mother. At the time, Mary Virginia was living with her husband, LTC Wilton L. "Bud" Simmons and their four children in Arlington, VA. It was at this time that the greatest snowstorm of the mid 20th century produced up to 3 feet of snow in the Mid-Atlantic Region, with 14 inches at Washington D.C., and 15.5 inches at Baltimore, MD. The storm resulted in 43 deaths and $500 million dollars damage.
Extract of letter from Patricia Doyle (Captain, U.S. Air Force), written the evening of the funeral, Feb 17, 1958, to her brother Jack, sister Teeny, and Mary Virginia & Bud Simmons, mailed from Fort Scott:
"My heart is rather heavy and it is difficult to hold back the tears, but I am relieved and reassured now that our dear Phillis is at rest.
When I received the last phone call from Mary Virginia Saturday night giving me the information that the funeral would be on Monday morning at 11:00 o'clock here in Fort Scott, I had just arrive back in Carbondale [Illinois] from a temporary duty trip to Texas. I felt that one of us should be here on this end since Teeny had been with Phillis in San Francisco. …I departed Carbondale one Sunday night flying as far as Kansas City, and completing the trip by train arriving Fort Scott at 1:10 A.M. Monday. I came immediately here to the home of Teresa Bayless who had made all necessary arrangement with Mary Virginia, here at the funeral home.
This morning Joe Remy and Lucille Jessup from Oklahoma arrived a little before the car came to pick the four of us up to take us to the Konantz Funeral Home. There were quite a few old friends and the Pall Bearers there. The book was signed and the viewing for the last time before Father Rustieka, John B. came for blessing and prayers. Phillis looked lovely --- especially her hair and face. I had given her a Toni permanent New Year's Eve when I was in San Francisco and it seemed to have held very well. The black suit she was wearing with the white collar gave her face a pink glow as did the pink – very pale —casket. The casket piece was a lovely spray of white carnations with red roses, and the casket corsage of gardenias. The large basket of mixed pink carnations with butterfly iris near the foot was sent by the Doyle Family. The names will be sent to Mary Virginia by the Home.
A Requiem High Mass was sung in Mary Queen of Angles Catholic Church—Phillis' parish church here in Fort Scott. The one hundred and seventeen (117) children attending the St Mary's School next door (where M.V. went to school) were there as well as many old friends. The church was nearly full. The Mass was sung by the children and was beautifully done. It really touched my heart and the tears flowed very freely because it seemed so fitting that the church should be so filled with children that she loved. Four altar boys served. The children all received Holy Communion in a body for her. Following the service we went to the Catholic Cemetery where Mr Fowler is buried and had the service there. Loretta Karleskint (one of the twins you used to hear Phillis talk about with us).
I am very grateful that I was near enough to be able to represent all of you, and am leaving Fort Scott knowing that this is where she would want to be. Home to rest. Although twenty-five years have lapsed since the Fowlers –Phillis and daughter left this area, the imprint of their personalities have never gone. This was evidenced by the friends I've seen and talked with.
With love and affection to all, Pat"
Extract - letter from Teresa Bayless Fort Scott, May 19, 1958 to Mary Virginia Simmons:
"…I have also often thought of how good God was to you and your Mother when you left Fort Scott to make your home in Calif. A lot of people did not think you would make it all the way in the car you had. It doesn't in some ways seem like you have been gone from here for 25 years, but in others it seems much longer than that. I, like you, feel your Mother never did really get over the very sudden death of your Father, but she certainly had the courage and faith to carry on for a good many years after, during which both of you traveled some pretty rough roads, but you like myself had the faith and courage to keep going until you got off the bad road, and am sure God will not over look that and also that your Mother and Father in their eternal home will give you a lot of assistance spiritually as well as temporally."
DIRECTIONS TO GRAVE: To find St Mary's Cemetery, go west on W 2nd Street from the town center, over Marmaton River, past Bridal Veil Park, approx. ½ miles west of the river bridge W 2nd Street bends to the north, after approx. 400 yards, turn left (west) on Locust Road. Travel about 1/3 mile to the cemetery entrance. Enter the St Mary's Cemetery at the gateway entrance. The road immediately splits as it heads up the slight rise. Stay to the right, and continue along the tree lined road, up the slight rise, counting eight (8) trees on the left. The grave, marked by the gray granite headstone, is on the left, just past the eighth tree.
Memorial created and maintained by Robert "Bob" Simmons, son of the late Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons and Colonel Wilton L Simmons, grandson of Phillis Alderson Fowler; Colorado Springs, Colorado; [email protected]
Links to FindAGrave Memorials of Alderson Family Members
Maternal Grandfather-George Peck1822-1900
Maternal Grandmother-Nancy Scovel1836-01
Son-in-Law WL Simmons1910-1972
Grandson Charles F Simmons1945-1973
Granddaughter Jane A Simmons1953-1976
Close Family Friend-Carmelita P (Mitchell) Doyle
HER PARENTS:
Her father, Edward T. was born in North Yorkshire, England 14 April 1849.
Her mother, Clara Peck was born to George Star Peck & Nancy E Scovel Peck 20 June1858 in Strawberry Point, Clayton Co, Iowa. Strawberry Point is in northeast Iowa, about 60 miles west of Dubuque.
Edward and Clara were married 20 March 1875 in Clayton County. Edward and Clara had four children: Nelli Permelia Alderson (Mrs P.N. Peterson) 14Jan1877–24Dec1948, Elizabeth M. Alderson (Mrs A. E. Freebury) 3Jan1879-30Dec1962; Edward P. Alderson 19May1883-13March1964; and Phillis Marie Alderson (Mrs John WB Fowler) 13June1885–13February1958. Clara (Peck) Alderson died at age 35years, 9 months & 16 days on 6 April 1894. Clara was buried the next day on 7 April 1894 in the Riverside Cemetery in Charles City, Iowa. After the death of his wife, sometime before 1897, Edward married Hattie C. Smith, probably in Floyd County, Iowa. James and Hattie remained in Iowa and added two more children to the Alderson family, a daughter, Harriet (Mrs George V. H. Brown), in 1897, and a son, James B, in 1899. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and Hattie moved with their two youngest children to Long Beach. California. Edward died 9 November1924; Hattie passed away on 31 December 1930. Both are buried in Sunnyside Cemetery in Long Beach, California.
BIOGRAPHY:
Phillis Marie Alderson was born 13 June 1885, at Strawberry Point, Clayton, Iowa to Edward and Clara Peck Alderson.
Phillis was born with a clubfoot, had had early therapy (possibly surgery), but always required a special black lace oxford built to specification. The addition to the shoe was made of solid leather and was very heavy.
As a young woman, Phillis was the head of handwork (embroidery) department in a large department store in Kansas City, Ks. She assisted in the selection of and taught embroidery, knitting, tatting and crocheting. She was very talented and skilled in the area. (info provided by close family friend-Pat Doyle Reynolds, Chico, CA, January 2001)
Phyllis Marie Alderson, age 24, married Jack Fowler, age 31, on May 30, 1910 in Charles City, Iowa (in Floyd County, in north central Iowa). We don't know how the two of them met or what their individual occupations were at the time. Phyllis's family had first established residence in Charles City in the fall of 1892, after the family had lived for many years in Strawberry Point, Iowa. When Phyllis was 9 years old, her mother, Clara (Peck) Alderson, died of typhoid fever at age 35years on 6 April 1894. Phyllis' father, Edward remarried a few years later. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Edward and his wife, Hattie, moved with their two children, Harriett and James, (half brother and sister of Phillis) to Long Beach. California. Based on the 1910 Federal Census, it appears that Phyllis had not moved to California with her father and step-mother, but had remained in Charles City. Phyllis' two older sisters had married in Iowa, Nellie in 1904, and Elizabeth sometime around 1900 (given that the eldest child of Elizabeth & Alfred was born in approx. 1902) .
Sometime in the next five years, Jack and Phyllis moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. They made their home at 224 Andrick Ave in Fort Scott, Bourbon Co., Kansas, 1914 - 1931.
(As of a 2017 visit to Fort Scott, the house at 224 Andrick is still the house that the Fowler's occupied for 17 years beginning in 1914)
From a 1958 Letter written to Phillis' daughter - Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons from a Fowler family friend in Fort Scott:
"Your Mother (Phillis) and Daddy (John Fowler) went to Kansas City in 1916 to St Anthony Orphanage for the purpose of fostering a baby. They went into the nursery and there were many babies there and they found it rather hard to make a choice but when they came to you – although you were only months old you held out both arms to them. They were quite overcome and had to leave and go outside where both them wee crying. It was the next day they went back and either that day or shortly thereafter you came home with them. I also recall – but don't quite recollect if my or your Mother told me that your limbs were quite curved, but I don't think from anything like rickets. Your Mother bathed, rubbed and massaged them for along time until she got them straightened and I know each treatment brought you closer to her. In fact, I now she so loved you that she could not bear to tell you that you that you were not her own, and I don't think any parents did or could ever loved any child more than you were, or be more proud of a daughter who has grown into a very fine person, rearing a grand family, has a very good husband and what more could anyone wish for."
Phillis was an active member of the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (her husband John worked for the railroad).
The Alderson family was of the Methodist faith. Phillis and Mary Virginia were devout Roman Catholics, Phillis having become a convert to Catholicism shortly before, or at the time of her marriage to John B. Fowler, also a Catholic. When in Kansas, Phillis and Mary Virginia had gone to daily Mass.
Jack Fowler died 21 March 1931, the result of a railroad accident, in Scott Junction, Bourbon, Kansas.
In 1933, following her husband's death, and at the urging of her two brothers, Edward and James, that she come to where they were located, she packed up the family car and drove to California with her lone child, 16 year old Mary Virginia. Edward lived in Paradise, a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California just above Chico. Edward lived in Long Beach, west of Los Angeles on the Pacific coast. Phillis and Mary Virginia drove via US Route 66 to California, initially visiting her half-brother, James, and half-sister, Harriet, in Long Beach. Its unknown what Phillis did with the Fowler home on Andrick St or the family possessions in the home.
"Since the 1920s California had been linked to the Southwest by a well-traveled highway. Scenic and already legendary, U.S Route 66 cut straight across Missouri, Oklahoma, and north Texas on its way to Los Angeles – a direct, modern and inviting pathway west. The actual trip west posed few problems for most migrants. Usually the trip, in automobiles, was fast and uneventful. In a good car families could make it to California in a little as three days. Nights were spent either in auto courts or camping by the roadside. Still some encountered difficulties. Ancient vehicles broke down, families ran out of funds for food and gasoline."
American Exodus – the Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California, James N Gregory, pg 32.
"When they piled and strapped their things on the old patched-together flivvers, all that they had was the hope they knew as California—that, and sometimes enough money to buy the gas to get them there. They were "Okies," "Arkies," and "Texies" (in time all would be lumped together in California under the name "Okies") and the highway they traveled West was U.S. Route 66, the road of desperation described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath as "the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness there is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight." Route 66: Ghost Road of Okies, by Thomas W. Pew, Jr., American Heritage Magazine, August 1977
Phillis and her daughter, Mary Virginia, then drove north 550 miles to the small towns of Chico and Paradise, and initially lived with her brother Edward Alderson, his wife and daughter, Annabelle in Paradise (12 miles up into the Sierra Nevada from Chico). They lived with the Alderson family for approximately three months. Mary Virginia rode the school bus each day down the narrow winding road through Butte Creek Canyon to Chico to attend Chico High School as a junior.
While with the Alderson's they were unable to attend Sunday Mass because there was no Catholic Church nor mission in Paradise and the car, a green four-door sedan, they'd driven from Fort Scott had expired upon their arrival in Paradise.
In May 1933, due to the effect that the Great Depression was having on the economy, the married women teachers in Chico High and the elementary schools of the district who had able-bodied husbands were asked to resign their positions for one year. The reason for such a severe action was that so many applications from young graduates of teachers colleges were being received that the School Board felt that married teachers should give way during the depression to such applicants. There were six married women teachers in the high school plus 24 in the elementary schools of the city who were asked to resign. Also in May 1933, the salaries of all teachers in the schools of Chico were reduced 25 percent. History of Butte County, Vol II, Joseph F. McGie
The following information about Phillis in Chico and her relationship with the Doyle family is as was described by Patricia Maria (Doyle) Reynolds to Bob Simmons:
Phillis Fowler went to the Parish priest of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church at Fourth & Chestnut in Chico and told him of her difficult situation and her desire to find a home for herself and daughter. Although she had only been a housewife in Kansas, after her marriage, she was looking for a place where she could work for board and room for both of them. Father John B. Dermody, the priest, said to her, "You are the answer to our prayers. My organist and choir director is in need of a live-in housekeeper and someone to care for her three children, ages, 7, 5 and 3 ½. The lady she has will be leaving to take care of her own grandchildren." The family he referred to was the Carmelita Mitchell Doyle family at 4640 Mansion Ave (later renumbered 302 West Mansion Ave) in Mansion Park, Chico.
Phillis immediately went for an interview and was hired by Mrs Doyle. Pat Doyle Reynolds nearly 70 years later, well remembers the day of the interview. As the eldest of the three, she was always given the responsibility to ascertain that the other two did not say anything out of line.
Mrs Doyle found a home for Mary Virginia around the corner from the Doyle home and her mother. She had room and board in exchange for some housework and carrying for the children of the Terry Family, Joy and twins Patsy and Peggy. The home was within easy walking distance of Chico High School, approximately four blocks. Mary Virginia remained there until completion of high school.
Phillis also suffered from neuritis and rheumatism, probably as a result of rheumatic fever. Early in her adult life, she had fallen fifteen feet on to a stone pavement from a window. That was probably the reason she could not bear children. Phillis was very frank with the children and just explained why the situation was the way it was. In spite her seemingly fair to poor health, she was a remarkable woman, always cheerful, happy, with boundless energy and never a complaint.
Phillis was like a second mother to the three Doyle children; sewing, baking, cooking, washing, ironing and assisting the kids with their studies and music practice. Her hands were never still. When she listened to the radio in the evening, or helped with their homework, she was always making something for a member of the family. She was quarantined with the children through measles, and scarlet fever. Mrs Doyle could not stay at home because it was necessary for her to work. Phillis loved movies and went often. Phillis was an avid reader so often at her request, Pat (Doyle – the eldest child of the three) would go to the library and select books for her to read. This was especially true in the summer time when the family stayed in Paradise to get away from the Sacramento Valley heat. Mrs Doyle, at the time had a 1931 Model A Ford. Mrs Doyle and Phillis and the three children, Patricia, Jack & Mary Virginia-"Teeny", as well as all of the clothes and supplies for the summer were piled in the car for the trip to the mountains. Both women were terrible drivers, although Mrs Doyle was the worst and would scream as she drove around the many curves through the mountains.
Phillis not only handmade all of the Doyle's children's clothes, including embroidered blouses, skirts, but knitted sweaters, made afghans, embroidered table clothes, pillow cases, aprons and anything else that was enhanced by her expertise. In Pat's official high school photo, she is wearing a dark brown, cable knit sweater with leather button made by Phillis. Every summer, she made the kid's special camp clothes for Every Girl's Camp at Butte Meadows, CA. The Camp used the same facility used part of the summer by the Boy Scouts.
Phillis was very involved in St John the Baptist Catholic Church activities in Chico. She sewed for the Catholic Orphanages making dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys which was one of the important programs of the Catholic Ladies Relief Society. Phillis held many offices in the organization including that of President. She helped the Doyle's with their religious studies and was Patsy's sponsor for her Confirmation in the Catholic Church. Several years later, Mary Virginia was Teeny's sponsor for her confirmation.
In 1943, Phillis moved with Mrs Doyle to live in the Bay Area in an apartment in Richmond, California where Mrs Doyle was working in the shipyards as a counselor. From there, they moved to 2498 Fordham Street, Rollingwood, San Pablo, California (just outside of Richmond) where Mrs Doyle had purchased a house. They lived there from about 1946 to 1953. Jack, Teeny and Pat lived there part time until Jack went into the Air Force in 1946, Teeny into the Navy in 1949 and Pat to the Air Force in 1953 after graduation from San Jose State University.
Phillis went to a retirement home about 1952 before Pat Doyle went on active duty in 1953. Phillis later moved to another home in San Francisco which was strictly a retirement home, not a nursing or interim facility. She was living at the Claremont Residence Club at 1500 Sutter Street in San Francisco, paying about $10. per month in rent (this facility still exists as the Hotel Majestic).
Teeny lived and worked in Palo Alto at the time and was with Phillis just before or at the time of her death.
Phillis passed away Thursday, Feb 13, 1958 at Letterman Army Hospital, San Francisco of Coronary heart disease.
Her body was transported to Fort Scott to be buried along side her husband, John Fowler. Rosary service was held at 4 P.M. on Sunday, Feb 16 at Konantz Funeral Chapel led by Fr John Rusteika. High requiem mass was celebrated in Fort Scott by Fr John Rusteika at 11 am at Mary Queen of Angels Church on Feb 17, 1958, after which she was buried in the St Mary's Catholic Cemetery a mile west of Fort Scott.
She was dressed in a black suit with a white collar and of course had her rosary in her hands.
Pallbearers were Julius Karleskint, Bert Karleskint, Tim Mullane, Cliff Wheeler, Roy Hayden and F. S. Popplewell. Members of the St Ann's Altar Society and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen attended the services in groups.
She was survived by: her daughter Mary Virginia Simmons of Arlington VA; two sisters Mrs George Brown of Long Beach CA, and Mrs AE Freebury, Orchard Iowa, and two brothers James in Annaheim CA and Edward Alderson in Paradise CA
Captain Pat Doyle, USAF, serving an ROTC assignment at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, at the time, attended the funeral representing the Doyle and Simmons families.
Phillis' daughter, Mary Virginia was not able to attend the funeral of her mother. At the time, Mary Virginia was living with her husband, LTC Wilton L. "Bud" Simmons and their four children in Arlington, VA. It was at this time that the greatest snowstorm of the mid 20th century produced up to 3 feet of snow in the Mid-Atlantic Region, with 14 inches at Washington D.C., and 15.5 inches at Baltimore, MD. The storm resulted in 43 deaths and $500 million dollars damage.
Extract of letter from Patricia Doyle (Captain, U.S. Air Force), written the evening of the funeral, Feb 17, 1958, to her brother Jack, sister Teeny, and Mary Virginia & Bud Simmons, mailed from Fort Scott:
"My heart is rather heavy and it is difficult to hold back the tears, but I am relieved and reassured now that our dear Phillis is at rest.
When I received the last phone call from Mary Virginia Saturday night giving me the information that the funeral would be on Monday morning at 11:00 o'clock here in Fort Scott, I had just arrive back in Carbondale [Illinois] from a temporary duty trip to Texas. I felt that one of us should be here on this end since Teeny had been with Phillis in San Francisco. …I departed Carbondale one Sunday night flying as far as Kansas City, and completing the trip by train arriving Fort Scott at 1:10 A.M. Monday. I came immediately here to the home of Teresa Bayless who had made all necessary arrangement with Mary Virginia, here at the funeral home.
This morning Joe Remy and Lucille Jessup from Oklahoma arrived a little before the car came to pick the four of us up to take us to the Konantz Funeral Home. There were quite a few old friends and the Pall Bearers there. The book was signed and the viewing for the last time before Father Rustieka, John B. came for blessing and prayers. Phillis looked lovely --- especially her hair and face. I had given her a Toni permanent New Year's Eve when I was in San Francisco and it seemed to have held very well. The black suit she was wearing with the white collar gave her face a pink glow as did the pink – very pale —casket. The casket piece was a lovely spray of white carnations with red roses, and the casket corsage of gardenias. The large basket of mixed pink carnations with butterfly iris near the foot was sent by the Doyle Family. The names will be sent to Mary Virginia by the Home.
A Requiem High Mass was sung in Mary Queen of Angles Catholic Church—Phillis' parish church here in Fort Scott. The one hundred and seventeen (117) children attending the St Mary's School next door (where M.V. went to school) were there as well as many old friends. The church was nearly full. The Mass was sung by the children and was beautifully done. It really touched my heart and the tears flowed very freely because it seemed so fitting that the church should be so filled with children that she loved. Four altar boys served. The children all received Holy Communion in a body for her. Following the service we went to the Catholic Cemetery where Mr Fowler is buried and had the service there. Loretta Karleskint (one of the twins you used to hear Phillis talk about with us).
I am very grateful that I was near enough to be able to represent all of you, and am leaving Fort Scott knowing that this is where she would want to be. Home to rest. Although twenty-five years have lapsed since the Fowlers –Phillis and daughter left this area, the imprint of their personalities have never gone. This was evidenced by the friends I've seen and talked with.
With love and affection to all, Pat"
Extract - letter from Teresa Bayless Fort Scott, May 19, 1958 to Mary Virginia Simmons:
"…I have also often thought of how good God was to you and your Mother when you left Fort Scott to make your home in Calif. A lot of people did not think you would make it all the way in the car you had. It doesn't in some ways seem like you have been gone from here for 25 years, but in others it seems much longer than that. I, like you, feel your Mother never did really get over the very sudden death of your Father, but she certainly had the courage and faith to carry on for a good many years after, during which both of you traveled some pretty rough roads, but you like myself had the faith and courage to keep going until you got off the bad road, and am sure God will not over look that and also that your Mother and Father in their eternal home will give you a lot of assistance spiritually as well as temporally."
DIRECTIONS TO GRAVE: To find St Mary's Cemetery, go west on W 2nd Street from the town center, over Marmaton River, past Bridal Veil Park, approx. ½ miles west of the river bridge W 2nd Street bends to the north, after approx. 400 yards, turn left (west) on Locust Road. Travel about 1/3 mile to the cemetery entrance. Enter the St Mary's Cemetery at the gateway entrance. The road immediately splits as it heads up the slight rise. Stay to the right, and continue along the tree lined road, up the slight rise, counting eight (8) trees on the left. The grave, marked by the gray granite headstone, is on the left, just past the eighth tree.
Memorial created and maintained by Robert "Bob" Simmons, son of the late Mary Virginia Fowler Simmons and Colonel Wilton L Simmons, grandson of Phillis Alderson Fowler; Colorado Springs, Colorado; [email protected]
Links to FindAGrave Memorials of Alderson Family Members
Maternal Grandfather-George Peck1822-1900
Maternal Grandmother-Nancy Scovel1836-01
Son-in-Law WL Simmons1910-1972
Grandson Charles F Simmons1945-1973
Granddaughter Jane A Simmons1953-1976
Close Family Friend-Carmelita P (Mitchell) Doyle
Inscription
FOWLER
PHILLIS M.
1885 MOTHER 1958
