Overland Park - Phyllis Hershey Carlson died in her Overland Park home in the early hours of May 29th, following a several-years-long fight with oral cancer. She was born in Upland, California on August 22nd, 1930 to Laona Pearl Book Hershey and Charles Hershey. In her ninety-two years, Phyllis was known and loved for being inquisitive, open-minded, dynamic, adventuresome, persistent, and particularly committed to caring for others. Her father worked as a custodian and beekeeper. Money was often tight for the family. Her mother was creative to ensure there was enough to eat and stylish, handmade dresses for church. There is no doubt that Phyllis inherited something of the restlessness and ingenuity that marked those years in the Hershey household. By kindergarten, for instance, she had already denounced her given name: Laona. Phyllis was shaped by her baptism in the Brethren in Christ (BIC) church. In high school in Upland, she grew skeptical about some of the church’s teachings. In 1949, she entered Messiah College in Pennsylvania, where she met her husband of nearly seventy years, Bob Carlson. In 1953, Phyllis married Bob, graduated with a degree in Education, and got her first teaching job. Phyllis then made the difficult decision to abandon the strict BIC dress code and head-covering. Phyllis and Bob moved to San Anselmo, CA where Bob was in seminary. This was a freeing time for Phyllis who encountered, “an openness to...and discussion about religious ideas.” In 1957, Phyllis gave birth to her first child, Steve. Her second child, Chris, was born in 1959. That year, the young family moved to D.C. where Bob was chaplain at Junior Village, a youth residential center. The family moved to Newton, Kansas where Bob was the Associate Pastor at Bethel College Mennonite Church. In 1962, Phyllis gave birth to her third child, Beth. She took early motherhood in stride, maintaining the household while Bob worked. Phyllis’s creative and instructive spirit pulled her
