Obituary

Phyllis Rae Garber Mitchell, Age 84, of Wilmette, IL and Boca Raton, FL. With great pain in my heart I must report that my idol, my love, my friend of 67 years, and my wife of 64 years, Phyllis Rae Garber Mitchell has passed away. You may know and love one or more facets of Phyllis. Perhaps you know Phyllis, the athlete, who even at her diminutive size, was an excellent high school volleyball player and bowler. Or you may know Phyllis the tennis player who, in her younger years was the best female tennis player at the Bannockburn club, and later, even into her mid-80’s, was an excellent tennis player at the Polo Club in Boca Raton. You may have met Phyllis the master-degreed teacher, who created from scratch, the special education program at Stevenson High School, one of the largest high schools in Illinois. Back in the day, many teachers resented that type of program as insulting their own teaching abilities, but Phyllis, with her kind and gentle manner, her soft confidence, and her obvious intelligence, won them over until they loved her, and her students loved her and the school administration loved her.

Indeed, everyone who knows her loves her, though none loves more than me, for the loss of her next to me is the greatest pain I ever have endured.

You may remember Phyllis the business woman, who ran an estate sale business called fittingly, “A Better Sale.” And of course there was her antique business. But most prominently, she was a partner with our two daughters, Leslie Kleinmuntz and Julia Berkowitz, in a children’s clothing representative business, “The Mitchell Group”, which together they built into one of the largest such firms in Chicago’s Apparel Mart. It was Phyllis who served the most difficult and demanding customers. They responded to her obvious honesty and kindness. No one could be mean or angry to Phyllis. She was just that sort of good.

And then there is Phyllis the marvelous baker and cook. She fondly will be remembered by the group who loves her apple cake, the group who adores her chocolate mandel bread, the one who wants more of her trifle, the brisket people, and the group who can’t get enough of her eclair cake (You all know who you are). She is all of the above, and more, but the way she really should be remembered is as the moral, logical, calm, kind, compassionate, intellectual center of love in our family, around whom we all revolve. We are Rodger Mitchell, Scott Mitchell, Leslie Mitchell Kleinmuntz, Julia Mitchell Berkowitz, Robbie Kleinmuntz, Michael Kleinmuntz, Sam Kleinmuntz, Alex Berkowitz, Mitch Berkowitz and their significant others.

Her wisdom was such that it has become known as “The Voice of Mother,” for she somehow always understood what is right, what is wrong, what is real, and what is imaginary, and she used that wisdom to guide us. And when we strayed to darkness, her love and her good sense brought us back into the light. The words, “What would mother do?” will guide us, always.

We all of us are reflections of her leadership. We are planets circling a bright, warm sun, enjoying her flawless gravity. And now she is gone. We have only the memory of her love to guide us. Can we survive? Can we continue? Everyone, treasure the days you knew her. You never will know another like her. She always will be special.

Oh, Phyllis, Mother, Nana, please guide us. What should we do now?

Private services have been held.

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