Donna Janette (Phillips) Fallis, 88, formerly of Hutchinson, passed away on Saturday, August 15, 2020. She was born prematurely at home, weighing three pounds at birth, on September 10, 1931, in rural Montgomery County, near Cherryvale, to Hugh and Bernice (Bowers) Phillips.
Donna attended a rural one room grade school near Stafford, KS, and graduated from Hutchinson High School in 1950. After graduation, she took classes at Hutchinson Business School. Donna was a homemaker, and worked in Hutchinson at McDonalds, Cessna Cafeteria, Airport Steakhouse, and Furrs Cafeteria, retiring in 1994. She had attended First Church of the Nazarene, Hutchinson.
Donna was an avid flower gardener and lover of animals. She raised Pomeranians and enjoyed feeding birds. As a child, Donna had pet chickens, and a pet pig, named Squeaky. She collected bird figurines and enjoyed reading the ‘Bird and Bloom Magazine’. At the age of thirty-five, Donna lost her hearing due to a virus. She lost most of her sight at the age of sixty. Even though Donna was legally blind and deaf, she was an avid reader of science fiction novels, and enjoyed coloring, even though it took hours to complete. Donna would travel with her son, Vincent, by Greyhound Bus, to the West coast, while her husband, Charles, was attending Naval Reserve Camp. She enjoyed yoga, ballroom dancing, drinking Pepsi with a straw, dunking Chips Ahoy cookies in her morning cup of coffee, and watching birds.
On May 25, 1952, she married Charles Ogden Fallis, at First Church of the Nazarene, Hutchinson. They shared over 57 years of marriage, prior to his death on July 14, 2009. To this union was born four children: David, Cecil, Penny, and Vincent.
Donna is survived by daughter, Penny Vogelmann of Miami, FL; son, Vincent T. (Juanita ‘Mia’) Fallis of Belton, MO; grandchildren, Ian Fallis of Miami, FL, Vincent V. (Shelly) Fallis of Grain Valley, MO, Emrielle (Nathan) VanCleave of Oregon, and Jenny Brockman of Andover; many great-grandchildren; and numerous family members and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Charles Fallis; and sons, David Hugh Fallis and Cecil Delwayne Fallis.
Graveside service will be 1 p.m. Wednesday, August 19, 2020, at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5905 W. 4th, Hutchinson, with Pastor Brandon Conrad officiating. Friends may call from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with family present from 5 to 8 p.m. at Elliott Mortuary.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Hutchinson Animal Shelter, in care of Elliott Mortuary and Crematory, 1219 N. Main, Hutchinson, KS 67501.