Phyllis Elaine Bowlin, age 92, of Arthur Nebraska died Saturday, February 24th, 2024, at Perkins County Health Services in Grant, Nebraska.
Phyllis was born to Phillip Hild and Elva Bateman Hild on February 24th, 1932 in Niobrara, Nebraska. When she was four years old her brother, Dale, was born.
Before Phyllis was four years old, she and her family moved to a farm north of Brady, Nebraska. Phyllis attended school at Wild Horse Valley School near their farm. Her father, Phillip, died when Phyllis was fourteen years old. She didn't get to go to high school because Dale and her mother couldn't keep the farm going by themselves. She worked the farm with them until she was around eighteen. Phyllis then started working at the lunch counter at Woolworth's in North Platte.
While staying with her aunt and uncle in Maxwell, she rode along with her uncle, who was a night watchman at Frank's Farm Equipment to make his rounds. While there she met her future husband, Jim. They started out married life in an apartment in North Platte. Phyllis always talked about using orange crates for cupboards since they had no furniture. When they moved on to work at a farm near Brady, the house had cupboards, so the orange crates became end tables.
Phyllis and Jim went on to work on the Kramer ranch near the Birdwood Creek and the Rodewald ranch near Stapleton. During the time they worked at Brady, the Birdwood, and Stapleton all three children, Carolyn, Ronda, and Neil were born.
In 1957 Phyllis and Jim moved to Arthur for work at the Triangle Ranch. They started out living in Hank and Dena Swanson's basement until the house at Box Lake was ready. After several years at Triangle, they moved into Arthur, where they lived until moving to the Mahlon Johnson place where they lived until they finally achieved their lifelong dream of owning their own ranch. They moved to the Ted Frye ranch in the 1980s and later purchased it.
Phyllis loved being a ranch wife and mother. She helped with the ranch work and was famous for the good food she served the many kids who worked for them. Phyllis loved being on the hospitality committee and feeding all the kids that came home with her kids after school. She had a great love for animals and especially enjoyed her dogs and her chickens. Phyllis loved her family and friends, making many friends feel like family.
Preceding her in death were her husband Jim and her parents.
Survivors include son, Neil (Shelley) Bowlin of Gurley; daughters, Carolyn (Red) Cerny of Arthur; and Ronda (Alan) Haumann of Thedford; a brother Dale (Kathy) Hild of Brady; four grandchildren Charlene Cerny (Dave Roque) of San Diego, Mikki Cerny of Axtell, NE, Brook (Beau) Huffman of Hastings, and D.J. Haumann of Bingham; eight great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
Visitation will be on Thursday, February 29th from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Arthur Baptist Church in Arthur, Nebraska.
The funeral service will be held on Friday, March 1st, at 2:00 p.m. at Arthur Baptist Church with Pastor Blake Wilkes officiating. Interment will follow at Arthur Cemetery in Arthur, Nebraska.
A memorial to the Perkins County Hospital Foundation has been established.
Online condolences may be left by clicking the Share a Memory or the Tribute Wall Button by going to www.drauckerfh.com.
Services will be live-streamed at www.drauckerfh.com