Phyllis Ann Douglas Hivner

Phyllis Hivner passed away on September 7, 2016 in Plano, TX, at the age of 81. "Phyl", as her friends have always called her, was born in Pittsburgh, PA on November 17, 1934.

Her late parents, John and Vivian Douglas, moved to Elizabethtown, PA in 1943. There she entered the Elizabethtown public school system. Having an early love for reading, her 3rd grade teacher would often call on her to tell a story to the class. Some were real, but many were made up on the spot and her classmates enjoyed every one. She always loved school, but the one subject she did not like, was math. Having a great sense of humor, she often did impromptu monologues for the senior high general assemblies and she really loved acting, which is probably the reason she had the lead roles in both the junior and senior class plays. She also enjoyed writing poetry and was asked to write the class poem and the lyrics to their class song.

On a beautiful summer Sunday, July 9, 1950, she had her first date with her future husband, James Hivner, who was also from Elizabethtown and attending college there. Little did he know at the time, but her grammy once told her, A man chases a woman until she catches him.' Her grammy was so right.

In 1952, after high school, she immediately entered the Harrisburg Polyclinc Hospital's School of Nursing, which consisted of 3 solid years of living, working and studying in the hospital. On September 8, 1954, James, who by now had gotten his degree and was in pilot training with the USAF, asked Phyl to be his wife, as he presented her a rather small diamond ring, but she said Yes' anyway.

At graduation ceremonies in 1955, she earned her cap, pin and diploma' as a Registered Nurse, along with a very special award for Excellence in Psychiatric Nursing'. She was also honored to be offered a 4 year scholarship to Elizabethtown college, by the hospital, so she could earn her B.S. in Education. At this point, her heart took over and she turned it down, due to her upcoming wedding in October, followed by a move to Austin, TX., where her husband would be assigned. They were married at Christ Lutheran Church in their home town, but after a short honeymoon, they soon settled in to becoming Texans by choice.

Phyl's nursing career was put on hold as she became a full time homemaker and mother, when they were later blessed with 2 daughters, Cindy Lou in 1956 and Bonnie Sue in 1959.
Her family was always active in their church. She taught Sunday School and later, taught Catechism classes to the youngsters, while living in Tampa, FL. Phyl was also very involved in the school system, both as a volunteer in the classrooms and in the PTA.

In 1965, while flying missions in Southeast Asia, her husband was shot down and became a Prisoner of War. Suddenly, with 2 little girls ages 6 and 8, the entire job of raising a family was thrust onto Phyl. All who knew her were already well aware, she would take it in stride, which she did, not without many bumps in the road. She handled it one day at a time, and in her own special way, she kept the family together with lots of love, faith in God, and a bright, hope filled, outlook for the future. She always knew, and continued to remind the girls every day, that their daddy would be coming home. She indeed was a very special woman.

In 1971 she and the girls had a great opportunity to visit Europe for several weeks, with some old Air Force friends. They traveled through Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Netherlands and Switzerland, sightseeing in new areas almost every day.

On February 12, 1973, after 71/2 years, her husband was released during Operation Homecoming' and her family was reunited once again, and everyone's life took a definite turn for the best. Later that year she and her husband, along with all the former POW's, were invited to visit the White House, where she met President and Mrs. Nixon, for the first time, as well as many movie stars' and other personalities.
Later, at another reunion in CA., she met Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

In 1976, after the girls were out of school and fairly independent, Phyl decided to again try her hand at nursing, when a doctor friend told her of an opening at a large clinic in Austin. She worked for an internist who's patients were generally older, which gave her a great deal of experience in dealing with her parents, as well as her husband's. She soon became the Team Leader' for one section of the clinic and was always well liked and respected by all the other nurses and aides she supervised.

After both girls were married and grandchildren began to arrive on the scene, she decided it was time to retire, so she and Jim could spend more time at home as well as making more visits to the expanding family.

In 1983 Phyl and Jim took a wonderful 2 week trip of a lifetime to England and Scotland. She loved all the sights of London, taking the hovercraft to Calais, France and back, actually seeing the white cliffs of Dover that everyone heard about, in the song during WW2. She really enjoyed touring several castles and even sharing a pint at the pubs in the small villages. Big Ben was being re-furbished, so it did not look at all like all the pictures. Before she came home, they also took a side motor trip to Whitehaven, where she was able to visit the actual birthplace of her grandfather.

Of all her travels, she probably enjoyed this trip the most.

In 1995, they decided to move to Plano, TX., to be closer to both daughter's families.

In 2012 she was diagnosed with bladder cancer and immediately decided to face it head on. After many tiring, difficult weeks of chemo and radiation, a body CT-scan determined she was indeed, cancer free. In late 2015, she began showing signs of more medical problems, and this time it was indeed very bad news. A cranial CT-Scan showed several cancerous brain tumors, for which she again decided to give life a run for the money, by going through several weeks of strong cranial radiation. Sadly, this only real option for treatment did not take care of the problem and her memory was even more severely affected than before the treatment.

Even up to the end, Phyl really loved being around people and people always loved being around her. She had a smile, a twinkle in her eye and a kind word for everyone she met throughout her entire life and was always there when she was needed. As stated in her writeup in her Nursing School yearbook, "Bound to succeed in every way." And she did.

Phyllis is survived by her husband, James of Plano, TX.; her brothers, Edward Douglas of VA., John Douglas of PA., and her sister, Debbie Thomson of PA.; daughter, Cindy Hivner Jones of Glen Rose, TX.; daughter, Bonnie Hivner Hargis and husband, James of Plano, TX.

Her grandchildren are, Philip Jones and wife, Nickey of Lewisville, TX.; Matt Jones and wife, Tiffany of Morgan, TX.; Steven Hargis and wife, Jill of Carrollton, TX. and David Hargis and fiancé, Wendy Rios of Dallas, TX.

Her great-grandchildren are, Easton Hivner Jones, Claire Elizabeth Hargis and Caroline Grace Hargis.

The family wishes to extend a most sincere thank you' to the entire staff of Silverado Memory Care Center of Plano, TX., as well as to all the dedicated personnel of Holy Savior Hospice of Dallas, TX.

A private memorial service and celebration of life' will be held at a date to be determined by the family. Phyllis will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her, but we are all reassured that she is at peace, reunited with her family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice.