Mrs. Phyllis E. Seabolt

A devoted wife, mother, sister, educator and community activist, Phyllis Eloyce (Ash) Seabolt died peacefully at her residence at Woodside Assisted Living on Friday, July 13th. Phyllis, the oldest of four children of Carl Emerson and Gladys Irene (Stewart) Ash, was born May 10, 1925 and grew up in Dowagiac, MI. Phyllis’ parents set a wonderful example of fine character, high expectations, strong faith and civic involvement that she and her siblings all aspired to emulate. She was a studious high schooler, vice president of the junior class, member of the Camp Fire Girls Club, the home economics club and glee club. When she completed high school in 1943, Phyllis attended Western Michigan College where she majored in education to become a “Home Economics” teacher. At Western she continued her involvement in social justice events in the Kalamazoo community and on campus where she served as a class officer in her junior year. When Phyllis graduated in 1947, African Americans had not been allowed to teach at the secondary level in Kalamazoo. Dr. Loy Norrix, who was then the Superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools, challenged the segregated practice and assigned Phyllis to teach at Vine Street School that merged with Washington Middle School to become South Junior High School. Phyllis taught at South for 21 years. In 1970, she returned to Western but by this time Western had become a University and she was now a faculty member. Seventeen years later she retired from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Education and Human Development, having spent a total of 38 years in the classroom. While Phyllis had a passion for teaching, after retirement she refocused her energy on community engagement in several ways. She was active with Saturday Eves Book Club, Delta Sigma Theta (public service sorority) and Delta Kappa Gamma (honorary society for women educators) and the Kalamazoo Association of Retired School Personnel. In the community she worked in two food pantries sponsored by Loaves and Fishes, one located at Ministry with Community and the other at Bronson Park. Phyllis, along with Betty Floyd and other community supporters, worked to establish the private collection of over 3000 books on the African American experience that belonged to Mary Mace Spradling, (the first young adult librarian at the Kalamazoo Public Library), The collection was donated to the Arcadia Campus of KVCC and is considered the finest collection of books in Southwestern Michigan. During her early retirement she and her husband Allen, enjoyed traveling the country from the east coast to Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean. After the death of her husband, Phyllis moved to Friendship Village where she continued to participate in learning experiences including the Resilience Project, a program developed to provide mentoring relationships between residents and freshmen students at Western Michigan University, who are enrolled in the Seita and Kalamazoo Promise Programs. Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, husband and brother Rolland. She is survived by her son, Allen Jr., step grand-daughter Quinn; sisters, Carolyn Tate and Martha Warfield; sister-in-law, Julia Ash; six nephews, two nieces; four great nieces, two great nephews, along with many friends. IN LIEU OF FLOWERS: The family requests donations be made to the Phyllis E. Seabolt Scholarship Endowment in the College of Education, Western Michigan University or to the Stewart Family Reunion Education Scholarship Fund.

Mrs. Phyllis E. Seabolt

May 10, 1925 - July 13, 2018