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, after contracting COVID-19 at the Scotland County Care Center in Memphis, Missouri.
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. (Junior). They eventually purchased a farm northeast of Downing, Missouri, in Scotland County. After losing their first child, Gary Lee at birth, they raised three children on the farm, Cheryl Ann, Craig Alan, and Candace Lea. The family was a member of the Downing Christian Church. Phyllis was a skilled homemaker, gardening, and canning much of the family’s food and sewing many of their clothes. She loved tending her flower gardens. Phyllis was a member of the Chit Chat Club and the Red Hatters in Downing, Missouri. She and Junior loved to square dance, host pitch card parties, and family gatherings, deer hunt, camp, and boat at Lake Rathburn, Iowa, and Lake Norfork, Arkansas, travel to the mountains in Colorado, and spend time with the grandchildren.
Junior and Phyllis shared a deep abiding love for one another. After Junior was paralyzed in a farm accident in 1985, Phyllis cared for him at home, until he moved to Scotland County Care Center in Memphis, Missouri in 2005. Junior passed away in 2008, shortly before their 60th wedding anniversary. In 2015 Phyllis, moved to the Scotland County Care Center in 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 Unionville, Missouri, Matthew McCollom and wife, Andrea, of Texas, and Jonathan McCollom and fiancé, Kelly, of Kansas City, Missouri, Rachel Folmar and husband, Stephen, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Hannah Magruder of Kirksville, Missouri, and Susanna Magruder of Norman, Oklahoma; 24 great grandchildren; 2 great great grandchildren; brother-in-law, Charles Comstock and wife, Ardis, of Downing, Missouri; nieces and nephews; other family members; and many good friends.
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; one son, Gary Lee Comstock; two premature infants; one sister and brother-in-law, Bernidene and Gene Billiett; brother-in-law and his wife, Derwood and Dorene Comstock; grandson-in-law, Dan DeKraai; and granddaughter-in-law, Kathy Erickson.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, June 12, 2021, at 2 p.m. at the Downing Christian Church in Downing, Missouri ,with Tommy Worstell, Pastor of the Blue Springs Christian Church in Blue Springs, Missouri, assisted by Larry Smith, Pastor of the Downing Christian Church in Downing, Missouri ,officiating. Music selections will be “For Those Tears I Died,” “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” “Amazing Grace,” and “You Are My Sunshine” with Betty Anderson, as the organist. Visitation was held one hour before the services from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. Memorials have been established for the Downing Christian Church or to the Scotland County Care Center. Online condolences may be expressed to the family, by logging on to normanfh.com. Burial will be in the Downing City Cemetery in Downing, Missouri. Arrangements are under the direction of the Norman Funeral Home of Lancaster, Missouri.
