Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
Phyllis Marie Winter, daughter of James and Mildred Matthews and a native of Los Angeles, died peacefully in her sleep August 8 at her home in Fallbrook, Calif. She was 91 years old.
A 1942 graduate of Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, Mrs. Winter was employed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Los Angeles. In 1943, she married ENS Ormond Craig Fowler, USNR who had earned his Navy wings one year after the Pearl Harbor attack. After WWII service and other assignments, LCDR Fowler flew in the Berlin Air Lift and on maritime patrol missions in the Pacific.
LCDR Fowler was lost at sea in 1953 when his Patrol Seaplane lost an engine and crashed into the South China Sea leaving Mrs. Winter widowed with five children.
Mrs. Winter was an American Red Cross volunteer at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego when she met Navy Flight Surgeon LT William Russell Winter, Medical Corps, USN. Dr. Winter and Phyllis were married in 1956. Mrs. Winter’s sixth child was born in 1957. Dr. Winter’s many assignments included Senior Medical Officer NAS Corpus Christi and Director of Bio-Medical Research at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Dr. Winter predeceased Mrs. Winter in 2003.
Mrs. Winter moved with her family many times during her time as a Navy wife. Her six children were born in Corpus Christi, Tex .; Vallejo, Calif .; Annapolis, Md .; Guam, Mariana Islands; Monterey, Calif., and San Diego, Calif.
Mrs. Winter was active in San Diego politics for several years as a Republican Campaign Chairman and she was a delegate to a national presidential convention. She was a member of San Diego’s Old Globe Theater where she designed many of the playbills and helped with set design. She was an artist who loved to paint in watercolors and oil. Mrs. Winter was an enthusiastic bridge player and always maintained an active interest in politics, sharing her opinions with her elected officials.
Mrs. Winter dined with astronauts and lunched with Congressmen. She was a lady and a person you remembered meeting.
Mrs. Winter is survived by her sister, Lois Thompson; her six children: Ormond C. Fowler, Jr., Jeffrey B. Fowler, Melody Fowler Whittemore, Marianne Fowler Duthu, Michelle Fowler Halstead, and Marguerite Winter Spencer; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and four nephews and grand-nephews.
A celebration of Phyllis’s life will be held on September 18, 2015 at 11:01 a.m. at the Riverside National Cemetery where she will be interred with Dr. Winter. Berry-Bell & Hall Fallbrook Mortuary is handling the funeral arrangements. Please arrive at the cemetery at 10:30.
Following interment, a reception will be held commencing at 1:30 p.m. at Phyllis’s home at 2215 Winterwarm Dr. in Fallbrook.
Dress code for the celebration and reception is casual. The celebration will take place out-of-doors.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Sheriff Department’s You Are Not Alone (YANA) program. Checks may be made payable to 'Senior Volunteers – YANA' and mailed to the San Diego County Sheriff, Senior Volunteers, Fallbrook Substation, 388 East Alvarado St., Fallbrook, CA 92028.
Reader Comments(0)