Phyllis Jefferson Hoenen's Obituary
Phyllis Hoenen, beloved family matriarch and Lewes Doo-Dah Parade Grand Marshall, marched through the Pearly Gates Saturday, May 25th. She was 90 years old. Born in Phillipsburg, PA on August 8, 1928, she and her family moved to Lewes when she was one-year-old, and she would live there the rest of her life. She was the third child of William and Ruth Jefferson. She graduated from Lewes High School in 1946 and then attended Goldey Beacom Business College in Wilmington. She married the love of her life and her high school sweetheart, Tom Hoenen, in 1950 and shared life with him until his passing in 1994. Together they raised their three children, Kathy, Rick and John.
For some years Phyllis worked as a secretary before finding her true calling as an Activities Director, beginning at Lewes Convalescent Center before moving to Harbor Healthcare upon its opening. There she was able to do what she was so gifted at-making people laugh through stories and songs and games, making their days brighter with her compassion and her quick wit. She carried joy and happiness and light-heartedness wherever she went, as if it were her gift to hand out to everyone in her path. Some people collect things as a hobby; Phyllis collected friends and had the rare knack of keeping them for life.
She loved a parade and she loved the 4th of July, and born out of those two loves came something that she will long be remembered for-Lewes’ Doo-Dah Parade. Back in the mid-1960s, disappointed that at that time Lewes had no activities to celebrate the holiday, she would host 4th of July parties for her friends in her yard on Chestnut Street. One thing led to another until she and her dear friend, Carolyn Shockley, rallied people to gather pots and pans and metal trash can lids to use as cymbals, and along with a portable record player with an album of John Phillip Sousa marches, they took to the streets. She has led the parade ever since, and it has grown into a much anticipated event in Lewes.
A gregarious, social, and sharp person, Phyllis was always interested in the lives of others, in politics, and in culture. She traveled extensively, harboring a special affection for Aruba, which she visited many times with her family and friends. She was a voracious reader, especially loving mysteries, and she mastered the art of writing funny songs and poems for birthdays and milestone events. She left her family and friends a treasury of letters, family histories, and scrap books that she penned throughout her life, along with copies of the skits she wrote for friends to perform over the years.
In addition to her parents and her husband, Phyllis was preceded in death by her brothers: Bill and Don Jefferson; her son-in-law, Tom Enevold; her daughter-in-law, Julie Molyneux Hoenen; her nephews: Don and Lee Jefferson; and countless friends to whom she was so close and missed every day. She is survived by her children: Kathy Hoenen-Enevold, Rick Hoenen, and John Hoenen and his wife, Diana. Also surviving her are her grandchildren: Ashley Tanis and her husband Joe, Leah Hoenen and her husband Karl Arnberg, and Jason Hoenen and his wife Viktoriya; her great-grandchildren: Sage and Aspen Tanis, Anders and Linnea Hoenen-Arnberg, and Jrake Hoenen. She is also survived by a lifelong friend she grew up with on Market Street in Lewes, Peg Hudson; her two “adopted” daughters, close family friends Patti Riffle and Karen Montague; and three nephews, Bill, Bob, and Alan Jefferson. Phyllis has left an indelible mark on all their lives, as well as the lives of so many people she met on her life’s journey. A remarkable person, Phyllis will long be remembered by all who knew her.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Monday, June 10, 2019 at 3:00 PM at Parsell Funeral Homes and Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, 16961 Kings Highway, Lewes, DE, where friends may visit beginning at 2:00 PM. Interment will be private.
Please sign the online guestbook located on this site.
FLORIST NOTE: PLEASE DELIVER ALL ARRANGEMENTS BY 10AM MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2019 TO OUR LEWES LOCATION.
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