My sister Phyllis died on January 7, 2013. She was the oldest of the three children, leaving Anita Mayer and me surviving. Phylllis was born to Paul and Mary Luvera in Anacortes on  January 29, 1928.   She graduated from Anacortes High School in 1946 with honors and attended the University of Washington, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English in 1950. She was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority. In 1953, she earned the State of Washington Standard General Teaching Certificate from Western Washington University. She completed her Master of Science Degree in Contemporary Criticism from Montana State University in 1969. She was married to Charles Ennes.  She had three daughters, Dorothy, Mary, and Martha. The two of them lived around the world while he served in the military. The family lived in Kentucky, Maryland, and Germany before moving to Bozeman, Montana, where Phyllis taught English and speech and directed the summer Children’s Film Festival at Montana State University from 1965 to 1973.

After their divorce in 1973, she returned to Anacortes, where she was the librarian and reading specialist at Fidalgo Elementary School from 1973-1981. From 1981 until her retirement in 1992, she served as librarian and taught speech and drama at the Anacortes Middle School, where she was famous for her annual production of Saint George and the Dragon.  An advocate of the arts who believed they are essential for a complete education, she began and directed the Anacortes School District Cultural Education Program from 1974 to 1992. Additionally, she sat on numerous boards, including the Anacortes Public Library Foundation, Pop ‘n’ Art, the Anacortes Arts and Crafts Foundation, and the Washington Alliance for Arts Education. A talented writer, she was a member of the Skagit Valley College Senior English class at the Anacortes Senior Center. She wrote poetry, prose, and short stories. As a family historian, she collected and published family stories, a cookbook of her mother’s recipes, and was nearing completion on her father’s memoir.

She dedicated her life to teaching, writing, and community service in the arts and received numerous awards, including the Walter A. Brodniak Cultural Award in 2008. She served as Editor and Adviser for many student publications during her career and held many positions with the Washington Alliance for Arts Education. In fact, she was the founding Cultural Education Director of the Anacortes School District and served in that capacity for some twenty years.

Her community achievements were numerous and significant. She received the award of Patron of the Arts for her community contributions to the arts. She also served on the Anacortes Arts and Crafts Festival Board, where she was secretary and Children’s Program Coordinator.  She was involved in the Anacortes Public Library Art Committee and Foundation, as well as Anacortes Youth Arts. She served as a judge for the school district art show and volunteered at the Skagit River Poetry Festival to show students how to bind books by hand.  She was a writer of poetry, short stories, and family history. In her honor, the Skagit River Poetry Foundation conducts the annual Phyllis L. Ennes Poetry Contest.

She wrote a book about our mother, Mary Luvera, favorite recipes. She edited Dad’s books, which he typed on an old-fashioned typewriter with numerous spelling and other errors she edited and corrected. She wrote several small booklets about our family and stories of life.  She published other books and materials about our family and preserved family mementos and history. She donated much of this to the Anacortes Historical Museum. She and  Anita provided the primary care for our parents as they grew older. The two of them provided care for our mother when she transitioned from living at home, after Dad’s death, to a retirement home.  She was who we looked to for advice as the leader of the three children and the person our parents looked to when they needed advice. She was very courageous about her views involving community and political issues and expressed them when she believed it was important. She was the source of advice for Anita and me when we needed it

Those are the historical facts that reflect the fact that Phyllis was a unique person who, while making extraordinary contributions to the arts and the community, was a family historian and community advocate.  Phyllis was an impressive and unique woman. May she rest in peace.