Phyllis Diane (Phipps) White

Phyllis Diane Phipps White made us laugh. She told us stories about how things used to be and freely gave advice on how things should be. She was a woman of faith, a mother of two and a grandmother of three. Phyllis passed away on Nov. 4, 2015. She was born on February 19, 1938 in Los Angeles to William Pearl Arthur Phipps and Eva Bonham Phipps. Her father owned and operated Bishop’s restaurant in Downtown Oklahoma City. She had many wonderful memories seeing the restaurant bustling with patrons and enjoying many family meals and celebrations there. When Phyllis was a young child, her mother would frequently join her father at the restaurant for dinner. Phyllis was put under the watchful eye of her teenage sister Barbara. Barbara cooked the dinner and Phyllis was supposed to clean up, but was often found filling the sink with hot water and soap to make a bubbly, fun mess. She attended Hawthorne Elementary before going on to Taft Junior High and then graduating as part of the first class from Northwest Classen High School. Phyllis would go on to study music at Central State University. It was in high school where she first met Carroll Wendell White, but she wouldn’t begin dating him until their first year of college. They married in 1957 and gave birth to their first daughter Dianna in 1959 and their second daughter Deborah in 1962. Phyllis loved to play the piano, often providing their house and her children with their own soundtrack. After college, Phyllis went on to work for the state of Oklahoma for nearly 25 years. She worked in accounting for the Office of the Secretary of State, the Office of the State Auditor and Inspector, the Department of Human Services and the Office of the School Land Commission. She is preceded in death by her parents, William Pearl Arthur Phipps and Eva Bonham Phipps, her former husband Carroll Wendell White, and her longtime friend and companion Gene DeLay. She is survived by her sister Barbara Phipps Roughton, her daughter Dianna Lynn White Wilhite and her husband Dean Wilhite, her daughter Deborah Carroll White and her granddaughters Hayley Wilhite Kemp and her husband Adam Kemp, Alexandra Diane White and Annie Carol White as well as a host of beloved nieces and nephews. We will miss her jokes, her piano playing, her love for the song Clare De Lune and watching her favorite movie “The Sound Of Music.” Funeral services will be held at Church of Christ South Yukon on Tuesday, November 10 at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Integris Hospice House and Church of Christ South Yukon. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Phyllis Diane (Phipps) White please visit our Sympathy Store.