Phyllis Faye Haynes Dennis was born November 9, 1931 at Lurton, Arkansas at the home of George and Nellie Daniel. She died on Saturday May 6, 2000 in Redondo Beach, California at 4:15 pm. She lived sixty-nine years, five months and twenty-seven days. Phyllis was one of five children born to Iva Woodard Haynes and Errol Whitely Haynes. Her grandparents were Martha Ketcherside Woodard and Ephraim Moore Woodard, Helen Gordon Haynes and Aretus Claire Haynes.

As a child, Phyllis lived with her family in stave mill camps in the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri and the mountains of Kentucky. The Haynes family moved to Lurton, Arkansas in 1938 and she attended school at Lurton and at Deer High School where she graduated in 1948. After graduation she moved to Ft Smith, Arkansas where she worked until 1951 when she moved to Kansas City, Missouri..Phyllis married Lynn Dennis and moved to California in 1952 where she has lived until her death. She is survived by three children, Janet, Jeanna and Jeffery Dennis, three grandsons, Jason, David andSteven and one granddaughter Courtney. Preceding Phyllis in death and buried at Tarleton Cemetery, Lurton, Arkansas are her grandparents Ephraim and Martha Woodard, her parents Iva and Errol Haynes, her sister Patsy Ruth Haynes Coonts and other family members and friends.

Tarlton Cemetery was cut from a corner of the Woodard field and belongs to the Lurton Community. Begun in the 1800s by the Isaac Freeman family, the cemetery is located in the northern Arkansas Ozark Mountains on Highway 123 near Lurton. Here, the view of western sunsets changes daily with a full spectrum of colors reflected in the lake now called the Daniels Pond and Grandpa Woodard's fielf where Phyllis and her sisters carried fresh water for Grandpa at 10 and 2 oclock while he rested his mule for a visit with them underneath the walnut tree. As children, woods for two miles around were playgrounds for Phyllis, her brother, sisters and cousins.

As is the custom each year on Decoration Day at Tarlton...neighbors and relatives drive in for a visit with each other. It happens that this year we will bring Phyllis back home for burial next to the family and many friends from her childhood...We will be there to tell her goodbye and visit with each other one more time.

One of Phyllis' greatest gifts was a wonderful memory of early years and family stories she enjoyed sharing... of life on the mountain. Sadly missed by all who knew her and in her lifetime... she left a legacy and a place in our hearts...she is missed by friends both in California and in Arkansas and by her family. Now that she is home... Colleen Haynes Rongey and Carrol Haynes Heffley, her brother Errol Haynes, Jr., her children and grandchildren now and in time to come...May...2000...

In lieu of flowers, a memorial tribute for Phyllis is begun to help build a covered pavilian at Daniels Park for the Woodard Family Reunions held each year on Decoration Day there. The address for this is: The Memorial Pavailan Fund, c/o Barbara Bernard, HCR3, Box 66A, Pelsor, Arkansas 72856.

Memorial services were held in California on May 13th and her funeral will be held on Saturday May 27 at 11 oclock am at Tarlton Cemetery at Lurton, Arkansas. Tarlton Cemetery is off the road, next to the Old Woodard Pond, off National Ozark Byway Seven, two miles north on Highway 123. Watch for the sign.

You can reach me by email, Colleen Haynes Rongey

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