Phyllis H. Meissner

Phyllis H. Meissner, 87, passed away on Tuesday, January 9, 2018, at Sunnyside Care Center, Lake Park, MN.

Phyllis Hope Erickson was born on March 7, 1930, in rural Pelican Rapids, MN, to Hans and Ina (Johnson) Erickson, the fourth of fifteen children. Her early years were spent on several different farms in the Pelican Rapids area where her father was employed. The family later moved to Baker, MN, where they were when Phyllis graduated from Barnesville (MN) High School in 1948.

During her later high school years, Phyllis met a young man who worked at the Baker Garage named Robert Meissner. Robert and Phyllis wed on October 16, 1948, in Barnesville, and were married for just over 68 years, until Robert's death on November 21, 2016.

Phyllis and Robert lived in Wolverton and Barnesville before settling down in Moorhead, MN, in 1951, and during this time they started a family of four children, Warren, Barrie, Connie, and Dianne. They moved to the Baker area in 1969, before returning to Moorhead in 1982, where they lived first in the Village Green development, then after 2008, in the Carriage House retirement community.

In her earlier years before starting a family, Phyllis worked as a babysitter, house cleaner, and waitress. These prepared her for being mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and great-aunt to dozens of children; for always keeping her home spotlessly clean; and for helping to serve and support her immediate and extended families in many different ways. One way she did this was by serving as the office manager for the moving business, Bob's Transfer, that Robert owned and ran from the late-1950s through the mid-1960s.

Another way that Phyllis served and supported her family was by helping to start an annual family picnic--begun in the 1950s and still going strong--for the descendants of her parents, and the families of her and her 14 siblings. For many years, this reunion was held at the lake place that Phyllis and Robert established on Middle Cormorant Lake in Becker County, near Cormorant, MN. For decades, from its construction in 1960 until 2014, this lake place--with its iconic red cabin--was a gathering place for Robert and Phyllis's family and a relaxation place for themselves before and after retirement.

Phyllis is survived by her four children, Warren (Claudia) Meissner, Lake Park, MN, Barrie (Peggy) Meissner, Dent, MN, Connie Reiser, Eagan, MN, and Dianne Meissner, Fargo, ND; thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren; and by nine of her fourteen siblings.

She was preceded in death by husband Robert; her parents; brothers, Lyle Erickson, Leonard Erickson, and Richard Erickson; and sisters, Alice Thompson and Jennette Beard.

A visitation for Phyllis will be held from 5-7 PM on Friday, January 12, 2018, followed by a prayer service at 7 PM, at Korsmo Funeral Chapel in Moorhead.

The funeral service will be at 11 AM Saturday, January 13, 2018, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Moorhead.

Burial will take place in Moorhead Memorial Gardens..