Phyllis Rosalia Scoles

Phyllis Rosalia Scoles (Beerbower), 96, passed away peacefully at the Madison County Memorial Hospital on Saturday, February 19, 2022. She was saved when she was nine years old and is now in the presence of her Lord and Savior with her husband, Glenn Scoles and her son, Jimmie Allen. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, February 25, 2022 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home, Winterset Chapel with a visitation one hour prior. Burial will follow in the Winterset Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made out to the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, Post 8142 in Winterset, or the Winterset Community Band. Phyllis was born on October 30, 1925 to Orval and Margaret Beerbower in Winterset. She had one older brother, James Wesley whose nickname was Shorty. She grew up in town. Her dad worked at the Ford motor garage and at the light plant, and her mom was a homemaker. Her mother was the granddaughter of Caleb and Ruth Clark of Clark Tower. Her dad played the saxophone, her mama played the piano and her brother played the drums. Phyllis began saxophone lessons and played the tenor sax and took private lessons. She carried her saxophone to and from school from east Winterset and had to take breaks and sit on her case to rest. She was in the town band and played concerts uptown. The four of them formed a band and played for dances while she was growing up. Phyllis’ brother, Shorty, joined the Army and there he met Sergeant Glenn Scoles who was a Staff Sergeant of the CCC camp in Red Oak. They became friends after Glenn overturned Shorty’s bed every morning to get him up. He started to come home with Shorty while on leave. The first time Phyllis met her future husband was on one of those visits to their house. She was sick in bed and Shorty woke her up to make some eggs; she was 14 years old and not in a very good mood. She continued to see Glenn when he came home. Glenn proposed to her when she was 15 and he was 22. He always said he wanted to marry a younger woman, especially a red head who could take care of him when he got older. Their marriage was illegal in Iowa, so they had to drive to Missouri with the required paperwork signed by her parents. Glenn was home on leave for three days and the two drove to Bethany, MO and were married on August 5, 1944. Little did they know, his entire unit was AWOL after promising they would get a leave home before being shipped out to Panama and overseas, but when the Army changed its mind, everyone in the unit left and went home. After their wedding, Glenn and Phyllis went on to Riverton where Glenn had been born and had family. His parents had received a telegram from the Army asking if they knew his whereabouts and to please ask him to return to the base. The two went back to Winterset and Glenn returned back to base. He was on KP for three days and then the entire unit was shipped out to Panama and remained there for three years during WWII. Phyllis remained home with her parents, worked at the city hall and graduated from Winterset High School in 1945. Upon his return from the Army, they settled in Winterset, built the house at 809 East Benton Street and had three children, James, Renee and Susan. Phyllis was a homemaker and Glenn worked at the city hall. They were extremely involved in the VFW Post 8142, were members of the First Baptist Church where Phyllis taught Sunday school, sang in the choir and helped in the office. She served their community volunteering at the food bank, multi-purpose center, and being a hospice volunteer for 20 years. She held many positions in the VFW, along with Glenn, both being valuable members. They later moved to the Ozarks and lived in Rocky Comfort, Missouri for 14 years and wintered in Yuma, AZ continuing their volunteer service by helping build churches on the Indian reservations, working at the hospital and volunteering for hospice. Phyllis and Glenn returned to Winterset and continued their volunteer service at the food bank, delivering meals and working at the meal site and volunteering with the VFW. Phyllis was nominated by the VFW and became the #2 volunteer of the year with the State of Iowa. She was honored with 70 years of service with the VFW in 2019. She was instrumental in being one of the ladies at the VFW to help secure and pay for the building with their many, many fundraisers. She was a hospice volunteer for over 20 years; a member of the Grace Baptist Church. She loved her friends at the meal site where she went every day for lunch and played bingo on Mondays and Fridays until her eyesight started failing. Glenn passed away in 2010 after 65 years of marriage. Phyllis loved her Heavenly Father and was a faithful servant. Those left to cherish her memory are her oldest daughter, Renee (Dennis) Simmons of Winterset and daughter Susan Gruber who resided with her for many years; her grandchildren, Dawn (Ian) Cline of Winterset, Jason (Hiedi) Scoles of Winterset, Tammy (Aaron) Nielsen of Des Moines, Amy (Matt) Friedhoff of Des Moines, Jake (Rachel) Gruber of McKinney, TX, and Travis Gruber of Denver, CO; four great grandchildren, Jasmine (Bobby) Swinson, Aaron Friedhoff, Gwendolyn Freidhoff and Noah Nielsen; four great great grandchildren, Allie Cline, Kaden Rudolf, and Bobby and Oakley Swinson. She will be greatly missed by her church family; special friends, Carol Dasher, Mike Mahan, Kenny Callison, Becky Miller and Marilyn Mount and close friends from the meal site. She was preceded in death by her husband Glenn Scoles; son, Jimmie Allen; brother, Shorty; and her parents, Orval and Margaret Beerbower.