Phyllis Adele Olstad was born in Valley City, North Dakota on December 7th, 1931 in the middle of a snowstorm.  She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith.  Growing up, Phyllis and her family lived on several farms throughout the Valley City area before they were finally able to get a farm of their own near Kathryn, ND in the Sheyenne Valley when Phyllis was 11.

Phyllis contracted rheumatic fever as a young girl and needed a year to recuperate.  As a result she missed her entire 5th grade year of school.  Despite being away from school for a whole year, Phyllis was an outstanding student and in high school she realized she wanted to be a nurse.  Unfortunately, her high school in Kathryn did not offer all the science classes she would need for nursing school, particularly chemistry and physics.

Before her Junior year in high school, Phyllis and her parents made the decision for her to live with another family while she attended College High School about 20 miles away in Valley City where she could get the science classes she needed.  While living there, she earned her keep by doing housework and baby-sitting the family’s four boys.

Phyllis graduated from College High School in 1950 and then moved west for nurse training at Bismarck Hospital.  As part of her nursing curriculum, she completed additional training at a hospital in Knoxville, Iowa.  While in Knoxville she met Harold Wallace. 

After moving back to Bismarck and earning her RN degree in the spring of 1953, Phyllis and Harold were married in September 1953 at her home church in the Sheyenne Valley.  Phyllis and Harold lived in Iowa for several years and had three children there, David, Thomas, and Barbara before moving their family to Renton, Washington in 1962.

After working for many years as a nurse in the Renton area, Phyllis later went back to school and earned another degree so she could become an administrator at a nursing home.

Phyllis fully embraced a love of nature and the Northwest out of doors. She was an avid camper, hiker, and eventually went on to enjoy several overnight backpacking trips in the NW wilderness. Two of her favorite places were the Pacific Ocean beaches and Mount Rainier, or as she called it, “The Mountain”.

In retirement Phyllis enjoyed travel both near and far, venturing to such distant locations as Alaska, Russia, the Panama Canal, and Israel. For her 80^th birthday celebration she soared aloft in a hot air balloon and scaled the summit of nearby Crystal Ski Resort on a gondola where she could have a better look at The Mountain. 

Phyllis was deeply religious and always active in her church, Bible study and the fellowship of her FOCUS  group.

Phyllis lived a full life and loved spending time with her family.  She was a great mom, grandmother and sister and will be truly missed.

Phyllis’ family invites you to have a look at pictures from Phyllis' life in the photo section of this website.

And please share your thoughts, memories, stories and photos of Phyllis in the Guestbook section.