Phyllis (Bonner) Weichenthal

Phyllis Arlene Bonner Weichenthal was born to Clifford and Gladyce (Sallade) Bonner on June 6, 1938 in Imperial, Nebraska.
She passed away April 3, 2019 at her daughter Susan’s home in Folsom, California, after a recurrence of cancer that began in 1994 and returned in 2015.
Phyllis graduated from Chase County High School in 1955 and from the University of Nebraska in 1959 with a degree in journalism. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. While at the university, she met Burt Weichenthal from Stanton. They were married June 12, 1960 in Imperial. They went to South Dakota State University for master’s degrees (English for her and Animal Science for him). Their daughter, Susan Kathryn, was born there.
Phyllis taught English at Colorado State University while Burt earned a PhD in Animal Science. Then, they moved to Illinois in 1967 where Phyllis worked in administration at the University of Illinois and earned a PhD in Adult Education and Administration.
In 1981, they moved to Scottsbluff where Phyllis worked in administration at the Panhandle Mental Health Center. They both retired in 2000 and moved to the Sacramento, California area to join their daughter and watch their grandchildren grow up.
Music was an important part of Phyllis’s life. She started to play the piano at age four and the organ at the Methodist Church in Imperial at age 13. This led to her playing the piano and organ at many locations over 60 years, concluding at the Methodist Church in Loomis, California in 2011.  
During retirement, she composed and orchestrated a symphony entitled, “In the Beginning God Created.” It was performed and recorded by the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra on March 13, 2014 at the Mondavi Center during a class session by student musicians and conductors.
Phyllis is survived by her husband, Burton Weichenthal; her daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Jerry Oliaro; grandson Blake Oliaro; and granddaughter Tessa Landgraf and her husband, Gavin.  
She was preceded in death by her parents, Clifford and Gladyce Bonner, and her grandparents, Leonard and Sarah Bonner and Clare and Kathryn Sallade.
A celebration of life is scheduled for Monday afternoon, April 22 at the First United Methodist Church of Loomis, California.
Memorials can be made to the First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 246, Imperial, NE, 69033.