Phyllis Marine Shauvin Burrows (Stoffer), 99

Phyllis Marine Shauvin Burrows (Stoffer) slipped peacefully into the hands of God on Nov. 18, 2021. She was 99.

Phyllis was born in Rexford, Kan., in 1922 and was a child of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Her family eventually relocated to Spokane, Wash., where she graduated from Rogers High school. She married her high school sweetheart and her first child arrived just before the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. This prompted her husband, Eugene Shauvin, to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. Phyllis followed him all across the country from one training base to another supporting herself and her daughter with a variety of jobs. In 1944 Gene was listed as “missing in action.” Phyllis was heartbroken and left alone to raise her daughter.

Phyllis broke the glass ceiling in 1950 by becoming the first female assistant to the Spokane Fire Chief. She was among the first of her generation, as a single working mother, to purchase her own home.

In 1951 Phyllis met and married the handsome rodeo cowboy and singer, Bud Burrows who starred along with his band “Bud Burrows & The Far West Boys” on a popular program on KGA Radio which led to an exclusive contract with KREM TV.

Bud and Phyllis moved to Phoenix, Arizona to work and complete their family of five children finally moving back to Washington state, settling into the small town of Washougal. 25 years later Bud retired from the paper mill and Phyllis retired from her long career as a legal secretary. They lived out their retirement days in Hayden, Idaho, and Chandler, Ariz. They were married for 60 years.

Phyllis was an avid reader. She devoured books on a variety of subjects and visited European locations she had read about. She was a gifted writer and published poet. She will always be remembered as a generous and loving daughter, wife, mother, sister and friend, with a great sense of humor, smile and laugh.

Phyllis was preceded in death by her husband, Bud, and daughter LeeAnne Katzer. She is survived by her four children, Linda Chauvin of Charlottesville, Va., Randy Shaw (Suki) of Spokane, Wash., Tim Burrows of Vancouver, Wash., and Nancy Ray (Tim) of Washougal, Wash. Grandchildren, David Anderson, Caitlin Nolan Redmond and Jessica Vela as well as several great-grandchildren, including Torren Redmond. She is survived by a niece Diane Cook and nephew Ed Dickinson; and several nieces and nephews from the Shauvin family.

Phyllis was a member in good standing of “The Greatest Generation.” We will always miss her.