Phyllis L. Thonn was born in Vita, Manitoba, Canada, on April 9, 1930 to Ellen Erickson and Oscar Erickson.

Her parents were American citizens and returned to the family homestead in 1931 near Fertile, Minn. where they raised their children and operated a farm.

Music was an important part of the Erickson family and Phyllis sang duets with her sister Joyce at church and community events.

Phyllis lived with Parkinson’s disease during her later years and passed away on June 23, 2007. She is survived by her husband, three sons and four grandchildren.

Phyllis is also survived by two sisters: Joyce V. Stullich, of Minneapolis, Minn.; and Ann Kramer of Lowry, Minn.; and two brothers, Donald Erickson of Maple Grove, Minn.; and Lloyd Erickson of Red Wood Falls, Minn.

She attended the Lutheran Bible Institute and also worked in the office of a construction company in Minneapolis. In the early 1949, she moved to Grand Forks, N.D. with one of her close girl friends and worked as a medical stenographer at the Grand Forks Clinic. In Grand Forks at the University of North Dakota, she met and married Paul G. Thonn, an engineering graduate and law student.

The couple moved to Seattle in 1952 where Paul accepted a job as a Boeing engineer. They bought a home in the Magnolia area of Seattle, but soon decided to build a home in Bellevue where they stayed for 27 years. They raised three sons who grew up in the Bellevue area: Daniel Thonn, now living with his family in Kirkland; Douglas Thonn, now residing in the Juanita area with his wife and two children and working in the Delivery Center of Boeing at Everett; and Derek Thonn, who has a home in Woodinville and manages his own successful subrogation business.

Phyllis lived an interesting and busy life and was a loving mentor and teacher for her children and an active supporter of her husband and was admired and beloved by her family and community.

During her first few years in Seattle, she attended the University of Washington, taking courses in sociology and English while her husband completed his law degree. She was also employed as a medical secretary at Virginia Mason Clinic during the early years in Seattle.

Phyllis was a stay-at-home mom during her son’s early years and later she became an assistant book store manager on Mercer Island and she wrote book reviews for The Seattle Times. She was highly active in sports and was an excellent skier and tennis player playing in tournaments at the Central Park Tennis Club. She loved the outdoors, gardening, and camping.

She later became interested in poetry and wrote a number of poems that were published in prominent poetry magazines and publications.

During international travels to places including Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, France, China and Russia with her husband, Phyllis practiced her love of photography.  Various photographs from her collection were later displayed at locations including the Narthex at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland. She was also interested in video photography and filmed two major productions, including a concert by the Everett Symphony Orchestra. In 1992, she and her husband retired to the Possession Shores Community. They were active in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland, including assisting in the conduct of the adult discussion forum and participation in the church choir.

A memorial service will be held at 9:30 a.m. Friday, July 6, at the Sunset Hill Memorial Park and Funeral Home Bellevue, 1215 145th Place SE, Bellevue, (425-746-1400). An online memorial will be posted at mem.com.