Susan Marie Phillips was born July 17, 1945, to an American serviceman, Joe Minsker, and his English war bride, Peggy Bird, in Bedford, England. She came to America in 1946 on the Queen Mary with 400 other war brides and their children.
Her early childhood was spent in Corvallis, Oregon and Port Townsend, Washington until her mother and step-father moved to Forks, Washington when she was 8 years old. She attended grade school, junior high and three years of high school in Forks until the family moved to Hoquiam, where she graduated in 1963.
She attended Grays Harbor Business College for 10 months, but decided that was not her calling. However, before and after, she had a long, illustrious and varied career, starting when she babysat for her four younger siblings, establishing herself “Head Honcho” for the rest of her life.
Sue married Wes Phillips in 1965 and they had a daughter, Victoria. They were later divorced. She remarried twice, but regretted she could not find a lasting, harmonious relationship in marriage.
Sue’s career path included being a very successful bartender at the 707, Captain’s Corner and the Aberdeen Eagles. She moved to Ocean Park in 1973 and tended bar there for many different establishments, including the renowned Ark Restaurant. She said she could never stay in one job for more than 5 years, so she also did stints at the area canneries. Even though shucking oysters and shaking crab was bone-chilling work, she enjoyed the camaraderie of close friends, Cathy and Loretta, there.
She worked at The Bookvender and again found friendship with owners, Gordon and Roy.
She was very proud to be the only lady loader at the Templin Rock Pit where they loaded all the rock for the Naselle River Bridge. She worked at Jack’s Country Store for 5 years and always had a side job, cleaning houses, bartending private parties and caregiving.
In fact, one could say caregiving was her true vocation in life.
She moved back to the Harbor in 2003 to help care for our mother and later worked for Personal Service Providers. Because of the professional, fastidious, and tender care she gave her clients, she formed lasting relationships with many of their families, including Leanne Kirkwood and Mike Lawrence.
One of Sue’s missions in life was to make sure everyone and everything got fed. Family members, neighbors and friends anticipated her culinary creations of mincemeat and lemon curd tarts, any kind of pastry, and her home canned tuna, zucchini relish. and most coveted of all, her secret recipe for creamy, boozy Southern eggnog.
It wasn’t only humans who benefited from her need to feed. Keeping her bird feeders filled was a full time job for her and later, our brother, Tim, when she could no longer do it herself. No hungry creature was denied a meal.
Sue loved living on the Hoquiam River and beachcombing at Ocean Park and revelled in all of nature’s gifts from those vantage points. She also loved cats, Shelties, classic country music, kitchen equipment, watching cooking shows, the History Channel and could have been a winning contestant on Jeopardy.
She was a creative gardener, sweet pea specialist, accomplished knitter, a gifted storyteller, and the family historian, articulate, funny and with amazing recall.
Sue was proud of her work ethic and also for being civic minded by attending Hoquiam City Council meetings to advocate for road repairs on Broadway Avenue. She practiced what she preached by picking up the trash that littered the same stretch.
Sue was preceded in death by both parents and her daughter, Victoria. She is survived by her four siblings: Kerri Neathery, (Randy) Tim Minsker, (Julie) Rob Valliere and Frank Valliere (Laurie) as well as her two grandchildren, Alex Keller and Whitney Schmidt, who by life’s foibles and follies, she could not always be close to physically or emotionally, but their pictures remained in her wallet and her love for them in her heart. She also leaves nieces and nephews: Kirsten Pekola, Kevin Klockow, Mandy Luckey, Daniel and Cole Minsker, Robby, Alex and Sara Valliere, Cori Stephens, and Patrick, Brian and Alisha Larsen. She trusted Kevin to be her Personal Representative.
There will be no funeral per her request, but the family will have a private spreading of her ashes at a later date. She would like to think PAWS would benefit from any donation.
