September 2, 1914 ~ September 2, 2007
Associate Phyllis Minet was a professed Dominican Tertiary from April 1959 and a Great Bend Associate from October 1985. She was a convert from long line of Methodists and the only girl in her family. She had 12 years of public school education in grade and high school. She was married to David; they had four married children and 16 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren. She was married 45 years before her husband’s death. She said of herself that she was a “homemaker for fifty years . . . working always to make my marriage happy and sharing and pleasant.”
Phyllis will probably be most remembered for her generosity, both spiritually and financially. She read to and prayed aloud with her blind husband. Daily they said the Rosary together, shared the liturgical readings and discussed Share the Faith. Both before and after her husband’s death she was very active in parish life. She taught CCD, and was a member of Altar Society, Legion of Mary and Renew, and a founding member of the Daughters of Isabella of Dodge City. She always did committee work for the elderly and shut-ins, worked for and with the poor with food and money, meals, transportation, and regular visits. She even attended a workshop on helps for visiting the sick. She also belonged to the Ford County Historical Society. As an active associate before her last illness and weakness, she helped organize the associate group in Dodge City, studied and prayed with the associates, and participated in their telephone tree of prayer. Especially precious to her were the times the associates gathered before the exposed Blessed Sacrament to pray the Rosary aloud in church on First Fridays. She loved to send cards to community members on “happy or grief occasions” and spiritual bouquets cards to sisters and associates, and to come to Great Bend for communal gatherings. Financially, Phyllis was a generous donor to associate projects and to our Community. She contributed to the Rosary Shrine, the Nigerian mission – especially through the bazaar – and to social justice projects. To the Diocese of Dodge City she also shared financial resources. She was a major donor for the wall of “Patrons of Religious Communities Working in the Diocese” which are displayed in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Phyllis loved to read, visit, dance, and work outdoors. She said becoming an associate was important to her because she wanted “to become closer to God and to have association and help from others who wished the same, and to thank God for the gift of faith.” There were so many ways Phyllis was generous in her calling as wife, mother, parishioner, and associate of our Community. She gave of herself and her talents in service and can now rest in the assurance of Eternal Peace.
