Phyllis Loraine (Martin) Comstock March 3, 1931 to January 17, 2021
Phyllis Loraine (Martin) Comstock
March 3, 1931 to January 17, 2021
Phyllis Loraine (Martin) Comstock, 89, of Memphis, Missouri, formerly of Downing, Missouri, went home to be with her sweet Jesus and her sweetheart, Junior, on Sunday, January 17, 2021, at Scotland County Care Center in Memphis, Missouri, after contracting COVID-19.
The daughter of Minor Franklin and Beulah Ruth (Eiffert) Martin, she was born on March 3, 1931, at her grandfather Ed Martin’s home east of Sublette in Adair County, Missouri. Her sister, Bernidene LaRue (Martin) Billiet, was born one year later. She attended rural Sperry School and later rural Brushy School, after the family moved to a farm south of Downing, Missouri, in Schuyler County. Phyllis attended Downing High School, graduating with the class of 1949.
On July 11, 1948, in Lancaster, Missouri, she was united in marriage to Tillman Comstock, Jr. They eventually purchased a farm in Scotland County, northeast of Downing, Missouri. After losing their first child, Gary Lee, at birth, Phyllis and Junior raised three children on the farm, Cheryl Ann, Craig Alan, and Candace Lea. The family was a member of the Downing Christian Church, where Phyllis was active in the Christian Women’s Auxiliary. Phyllis was a skilled homemaker, gardening and canning much of the family’s food and sewing many of their clothes. She loved tending her flowers and reading Louis L’Amour westerns. Phyllis enjoyed her years with the Chit Chat Club and the Red Hatters in Downing, Missouri.
She and Junior were members of the National Farmers Organization (NFO). They loved to square dance, host pitch card parties and family gatherings, watch birds, deer hunt, and go camping and boating with friends at the lake. They enjoyed traveling to Oklahoma, to the mountains of Colorado, and to the Iowa State Fair. They especially loved, spending time with their grandchildren.
Junior and Phyllis shared a deep abiding love for one another. She loved to hear him sing “You Are My Sunshine.” After Junior was paralyzed in a farm accident in 1985, Phyllis cared for him at home until he moved to Scotland County Care Center, Memphis, Missouri, in 2005. Junior passed away in 2008, shortly before their 60th wedding anniversary. In 2015, Phyllis moved to Scotland County Care Center, Memphis, Missouri.
Survivors include her children, Cheryl Eddleman and husband, Mike, of Kahoka, Missouri, Craig Comstock and wife, Mary, of Unionville, Missouri, and Candace Magruder and husband, Kerry, of Norman, Oklahoma. She is Grandma Sugar and Grandma Phyllis to 14 grandchildren: Shawn Erickson and wife, Angela, of Festus, Missouri, Nikki Worstell and husband, Tommy, of Blue Springs, Missouri, Laura Ussary and husband, Brad, of Kansas City, Missouri, Travis Eddleman of Olathe, Kansas, Clint Eddleman of Kahoka, Missouri, Kristi Eddleman of Kansas City, Missouri, Vanessa Whitaker and partner, Dr. Shane Wilson, of Memphis, Missouri, Jason Comstock and wife, Irene, of Jackson, Missouri, Andrew McCollom and wife, KayLea, of rural Unionville, Missouri, Matthew McCollom and wife, Andrea, of Kingwood, Texas, Jonathan McCollom and fiancé, Kelly Foster, of Roeland Park, Kansas, Rachel Folmar and husband, Stephen, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Hannah Magruder of Kirksville, Missouri, and Susanna Magruder of Norman, Oklahoma; as well as to 24 great grandchildren: Quincy and Schuler Erickson; Austin and Alyssa Schwent; Thomas, Jonathon, Timothy, and Hope Worstell; Brett and Seth Ussary and Lexi DeKraai-Ussary; Meadow, Carson, Payton, Mia, Avaya, and Aven Eddleman; Victoria and Clifford Whitaker; Kaitlyn Miller and husband, Traven; Athena and Iris Comstock; Hudson and Porter McCollom; and two great great grandchildren Dennis and Ivy Miller. She is also survived by brother-in-law Charles Comstock and wife, Ardis, of Downing, Missouri; nieces, nephews, and other family members; and many good friends and neighbors.
Phyllis is preceded in death by her parents, Minor Martin on April 30, 1999, and Ruth Martin on April 5, 2005; her husband Junior Comstock on March 19, 2008; son Gary Lee Comstock; two premature infants; sister Bernidene Billiet and husband, Gene; brother-in-law Derwood Comstock and wife, Dorene; and grandson-in-law Dan DeKraai.
A Celebration of Life service will be scheduled at a later date, when COVID restrictions permit. Online condolences may be expressed to the family by logging on to normanfh.com. Arrangements are under the direction of the Norman Funeral Home of Lancaster, Missouri.
Memorials may be made in memory of Phyllis Comstock to Downing Christian Church or Scotland County Care Center.
