Phyllis DiStefano Howell

Phyllis DiStefano Howell
Born in Buffalo, New York March 16,1928
Departed on 10/17/2023
Funeral Mass: Monday, October 30, 10AM St Hugo of the Hills Stone Chapel, Bloomfield Hills
Final Resting Place: St Hugo Columbarium, Bloomfield Hills
Phyllis DiStefano Howell - Loving Wife, Mother, Sister, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother and Friend
Phyllis loved spending time with family and supported many Catholic charities. She worked for nearly 40 years in women's retail clothing at both Bonwit Teller and Saks Fifth Avenue where she won several awards for her sales prowess. She supported her children's education and extracurricular activities throughout her life, always with a smile and a laugh. Phyllis loved to bake and not a week would go by without some homemade goodie appearing in the kitchen. Her oatmeal cookies and "Hello Dolly'' cookies were famous and a highly sought after treat in the Hickory Grove neighborhood of Bloomfield Hills.
Her Italian heritage was important to her and she shared it through her cooking. At least once a week the family would have spaghetti, lasagna, manicotti, or other delicious family recipes. Interestingly, our friends and neighbors thought this was exotic and enjoyed eating at her Italian table. Many requests are still made for her Easter calzone. We still have a silent sauce competition among the family members. She would occasionally use old italian dialect words with us, mostly silly insults, such as " shabalone, gabadost, or chuch", which we assimilated into our own vocabulary without realizing it was not english. Phyllis died peacefully at her home on 10/17/23 just before noon surrounded by loved ones.
Phyllis was born on March 16th, 1928 in Buffalo, New York to Mary and Peter Distefano. Her siblings were John, Nicholas, and her little sister and best friend Marion. She grew up on the East side of the city of Buffalo on Myrtle avenue in a predominantly Italian neighborhood where many of her neighbors were also her family. She was raised in a multi generational home where her paternal grandfather and at least one uncle lived with them. She attended Hutchinson High School on S. Elmwood Avenue and graduated with honors in 1946. While attending high school during WWII she would work after school at the F.N. Burt box company on Seneca street in the evenings as a packer. After her graduation she gained employment as a secretary at Fairmont Foods on Scott St. where she worked her way up to executive secretary of the Plant Manager. It was there that she met the love of her life Walker T. Howell, they were married on June 28, 1958 and had 3 children. Together they spent over forty happy years together until Walker's death in 2001.
Family was everything to Phyllis, everyone else was relegated to the group "those people". She was Mother to Craig (Karen), Cynthia (Pat), and Curt (Alice). She was grandmother to Andrea (Casimir), Alexa (Tyler), Craig Michael (Alexandra), Nicholas (Caroline), Samuel (Haley), Taylor (Marilyn) and Jacqueline (Logan). She was great-grandmother to Casimir, Dominic, Benicio, Alexandra, Felix, Sofia, Josephine, Olivia, Blaire, Luke, Collins and Charlie Grace and perhaps more coming soon. She was also a loving Aunt to many nieces and nephews.
Phyllis was known as "Muggsy" or "Muggs" to her husband Walker and they would have date night every Saturday of their 43 year marriage. They enjoyed season tickets to the Fisher Theater and Opera House in the fall/winter season and concert tickets at the Meadowbrook Theater in the warmer spring/summer season. They enjoyed entertaining at home with the occasional cocktail party or dinner party for friends and neighbors as well. The majority of their time, however, was occupied by attending the various extracurricular activities of their 3 children. May they spend an eternity of "date nights" together in their new home.
Funeral Mass will be held Monday, October 30, at 10AM at St. Hugo of the Hills Stone Chapel, 2215 Opdyke Road, Bloomfield Hills. Private family only visitation will be held prior to the mass.
Memorial tributes may be sent to The Capuchin Soup Kitchen.