Phyllis Anne Zettler
April 5, 1941-Jan. 2, 2024
Phyllis Zettler left this earth on Jan. 2, 2024, eager to see her husband, parents, and the rest of her passed loved ones again. Family was everything. Through her death at age 82, her house was full, with daughters, grandkids, and all their spouses, plus great-grands with her every day. They were her joy. She
loved babies, Alabama football and math, and she almost never met accounts she couldn’t reconcile. Phyllis was born in Huntsville, Alabama, on April 5, 1941, to incredibly loving parents who set the foundation. She graduated from Huntsville High School in 1959 and worked at the Redstone Arsenal. But most notably, Huntsville is where she met the love of her life, Tommy Zettler, and they were married for 51 years parting only with his death in 2014. In their early married life, Tommy’s long career with Genesco kept them moving from one shoe manufacturing plant to another in Alabama, Tennessee and finally, Mississippi, having all four of their daughters in different places. They ultimately established their family home in Fulton, Mississippi, when Tommy transferred to the old Charm Step plant. There Phyllis raised those four daughters and spent her time doing anything else she put her mind to, like canning and sewing. She was such a good cook, with grandkids and nieces regularly putting in special requests for her dishes. On top of it all, she forged a career. As the girls grew, she began her long tenure with The Itawamba County Times. In 1978, she became the first person Rubye Del Harden hired after returning to The Times, and the two of them, along with Ruth Howell, formed lifelong bonds, even as the company transitioned over the years. Phyllis started at The Times to assist with bookkeeping and wait on customers at the front counter, but after just a few years, she so impressed Rubye Del with her work ethic, grasp of operations and her many abilities in pricing and organizational skills, that she was quickly promoted to General Manager of The Times, a position she held until The Times was sold to the Daily Journal. For all Phyllis’ strengths, she wasn’t successful at retiring (she did that three times before it stuck). In 2006, she retired from Journal Publishing with a total of 28 years of service. But she continued on with Harden Enterprises and Sprint Print, celebrating her 40-year mark with Rubye Del with a celebration in 2018, and then longer still with Rubye Del on a consulting basis. Phyllis was a member of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, along with most of her family, and was there for Christmas Eve services, just nine days before she passed from her second round with breast cancer. Phyllis was preceded in death by husband Tommy, her parents Clayton and Georgia Travis of Huntsville, Ala, her brother Clayton “Bud” Travis of Huntsville, and her grandson Davis Boeko.
She is survived by daughters, Sharon Cox of Fulton, Karen George and her husband, Neal, of Fulton, Linda Boeko and her husband, Bruce, of Nashville, Tenn., and Terri Green and her husband, Michael, of Fulton; two sisters, Gaybe Horner of Denham Springs, La., and Martha (Bobby) Beaty of Toney, Ala.; brother-in-law Jackie Zettler of Dixon, Ky.; eight grandchildren, Allen Davis, Kayla (Chance) Prestage, Clayton (Shae) Davis, Candace (Michael) Davis, Bethany (Dakota) Pruitt, Brandon Cox, Lexi Green and Andrew Green; and nine great-grandchildren, Cayden Prestage, Georgia Davis, Kesley Tucker, Lilly Davis, Zettler Prestage, Parker Davis, Kelli Prestage, Carson Davis and Amelia Pruitt.
Funeral services will be 11:00 am Saturday, January 6, 2024, at Senter Funeral Home with Bro. Tim Holsonback and Bro. Jackie Gray officiating. Visitation will be 5:00-8:00 pm Friday, January 5, at Senter Funeral Home. Burial will be in Harden's Chapel Cemetery. Senter Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Pallbearers will be her sons-in-law Neal George, Michael Green and Bruce Boeko; and grandsons-in-law Chance Prestage, Michael Davis and Dakota Pruitt.
Memorials may be made in two ways: She loved giving to her church. Donations can be made to the building fund of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Building Fund, P. O. Box 901, Fulton, MS 33843.
We know our family has been blessed with all the support we needed in these final
days. We also request donations to the Hospice Patient Care Fund to help families in need. They can be made online at nmhsfoundation.org/hospice/ or mailed to the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi, 830 South Gloster Street, Tupelo, MS 38801, ATTN: Hospice Patient Care Fund.