Obituary for Phyllis Powell-Hedrick
Funeral Services will be 2:00 PM Tuesday December 22, 2020 at The Crown Center (13300 S Western Ave, Moore, OK 73170) with burial following at Resthaven Memory Gardens Oklahoma City.
Phyllis Hicks Powell Hedrick was born on April 26, 1914, to James T. and Allie Hicks of Salem, Arkansas. She passed this life into the arms of her Lord on December 17, 2020, at the age of 106 years and 8 months. Her family moved to a rural area about 18 miles from West Plains, Missouri, when she was about 6 years old.
At the age of 12, Phyllis took a trip to Oklahoma City where she met a young man at the grocery store who would later become her husband. When the family moved to Oklahoma City a couple of years later, she and Virgil Powell soon became a couple. It was during this time that Phyllis obtained her first job as a cashier at H.L. Green, a popular variety store in downtown Oklahoma City. On November 29, 1930, Phyllis became the bride of Virgil Powell, with whom she would share 51 years of marriage before his passing.
Phyllis also made another commitment that remained vitally important to her throughout her life. At 14 years old, she joined the Second Pentecostal Holiness Church. Over the ensuing years, the church underwent a couple of name changes. When the church changed its physical location, it became known as The Crown Center. At the age of 106, Phyllis holds the record of having the longest tenure (92 years) as a member of the church she loved.
Over the course of many years, Phyllis and Virgil operated several “Mom and Pop” grocery stores in several locations across Oklahoma City. This would include very difficult economic times, as well as periods of rationing during World War II. In 1958 she and Virgil bought their home on Linden Street where Phyllis resided until the age of 102 when she moved to assisted living. Several years later after moving to their home, Phyllis completed cosmetology school and opened her home beauty shop on June 1, 1967. She continued in that profession until well into her 90’s!
When Merrill Hedrick became a widower after almost 52 years of marriage, he and Phyllis married on August 4, 1984. They celebrated almost 16 years together before his passing in April 2000. With her marriage to Merrill, Phyllis inherited an additional family of sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and in-laws.
Phyllis is preceded in death by her parents; 3 sisters, Anna Holloway and Pearl Williams of Oklahoma City; Ruby Morton of Globe, Arizona; and one brother, J.T. Hicks of Portland, Oregon; as well as her husbands, Virgil Powell and Merrill Hedrick of Oklahoma City; and a stepson, Charles Hedrick of Oklahoma City. She is survived by her niece, Phyllis Ann Mohr and husband, Joseph, of Hot Springs, North Carolina; a stepson, Bill Hedrick and wife Vera of Oklahoma City; and a stepdaughter-in-law, Jeanette Hedrick of Oklahoma City, as well as many nieces and nephews, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Phyllis possessed a quality we all should have—that of loving much and living life to the fullest every day. She never lost her sense of humor, her zest for life and learning, or that sparkle in her eyes.
Phyllis performed many roles in the lives of her family and friends. She was an excellent cook, seamstress, and beautician and sometimes nurse. Most importantly, she was an encourager, prayer warrior, and true and faithful friend. We celebrate the blessing that Phyllis has been to those of us who were privileged to have known her.