Phyllis Y. Preston

Phyllis Yvonne (Agnew) Preston, 99, of Des Moines, formerly of Creston, passed from this life Nov. 8, 2023, with her loving son and daughter-in-law by her side at the Jewish Senior life Center in Des Moines. A funeral service will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 18 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home in Urbandale. A visitation will be at 10 a.m., until the time of the service on Saturday. Interment will be 2 p.m., Saturday, at West Fairview Cemetery in Lenox.

Phyllis was born July 10, 1924, to Charlotte and John Agnew in Creston. An only child, her family knew poverty during the Great Depression, as did many. She was an excellent student and graduated from Creston High School as the class of 1942 co-valedictorian. While there, she met her high school sweetheart and future husband, Richard.

Following the war, she worked to put him through college and medical school. Living initially in Ann Arbor, Michigan, they relocated to Des Moines to be closer to family. She was a loving wife and mother and an accomplished businesswoman who managed her husband’s medical practice for many years. She was an active member of the PEO and the Des Moines Women’s Club and attended West Des Moines United Methodist Church.

She maintained her small town values of hard work, honesty, humility, thriftiness and kindness all of her life. She had many friends and was always quick with a joke in hard times or good.

She was predeceased by her husband Richard and her oldest child, Deborah.

She is survived by her sons David (Phea) of Seattle, Washington and Mark (Teresa) of Urbandale, as well as six grandchildren.

Hers was a long and productive life and she will be greatly missed by those who knew her.