Phyllis Hess McWilliams

Phyllis Hess McWilliams July 27, 1922 July 8, 2013 Phyllis Hess McWil- liams, 90, of State College, entered into heaven on Monday, July 8, 2013, from her farm in State College. Born July 27, 1922, in State College, she was a daughter of the late Samuel McWilliams Hess and Minnie Kathryn Portzline Hess, and grew up on their family farm. She was preceded in death by her brothers, Ernest and David Hess. She is survived by her sister, Sara Eleanor Hess, of State College. Phyllis is a 1940 graduate of State College Area High School, where she was a two year starter on the women's basketball team. Upon graduation she was employed as a chauffeur for Penn State President Ralph Hetzel. During WWII, she ran the family farm with her father, Sam Hess, they had great success and she became known as "Phyl the Farmer!" On April 18, 1946, in Pine Grove Mills, she married George Calvin McWilliams, her late husband of 66 years. They bought the Hess family farm on Upper Branch Road (Shingletown Road) and raised champion registered Holstein Friesian heifers and cows and enthusiastically supported their children's 4-H projects. Phyllis enjoyed the beautiful flowers she always kept surrounding her house and barn. She loved animals and birds of all kinds, especially hummingbirds and the barn swallows who return every year around April 15th. She had a pet rooster named Cocky Doodle who would crow on her request and was a valuable pet for children to touch while she was holding him. She was an avid Pittsburgh Pirates baseball and Penn State baseball and football fan. She enjoyed scoring baseball games that she attended. Phyllis was the Office Manager when George was Ferguson Township tax collector for over 17 years. Phyllis is survived by her four children, Luke Hess McWilliams and his wife, Mary, of Littleton, Colo., Thomas Henry McWilliams and his wife, Donna, of Webster, N.H., Phyllis Ann McWilliams Schmidt, of Flemington, N.J., and Galen George McWilliams and his wife, Kathy, of State College; 17 grandchildren, David McWilliams, of Webster, N.H., Rebecca McWilliams-Meinecke and her husband, James, of Quincy, Mass., Sarah McWilliams Brownell and her husband Stephen, of Seattle, Wash., Daniel McWilliams and his wife Christina, of Groton, Conn., Katrina Schmidt, of Millburn, N.J., Cassandra Schmidt, of Berkley Heights, N.J., Nickole McWilliams Dreibelbis and Eric Dreibelbis, of Yulee, Fla., Lindsey McWilliams Benner and her husband, Shawn, of Fernandina, Fla., Dawn and Ann Stiger, of Denver, Colo., and Heather DeJesus and her husband, Dan, of Tacoma, Wash.; and eight great-grandchildren, Kristen Dreibelbis, Kaden Schwab, Shea and Beck Benner, Jonah, Dylan and Hannah Dawn DeJesus, and Guy Stiger. Phyllis particularly enjoyed and welcomed visits from her relatives and friends; she wanted them to enjoy the farm just like she did. The Reverend Carl Campbell will officiate at a gravesite service in Graysville Cemetery, Spruce Creek, at 11 a.m. Saturday July 13, 2013. Memorial contributions may be made to Pine Grove Presbyterian Church, Pine Grove Mills, PA 16868. Arrangements by Cox Funeral Home, Warriors Mark.