Biography:

Phyllis Joan Woodyard Williams Arrington of Little Rock, originally of Falls Church Virginia, 93, has died of a heart ailment. Phyllis is survived by her 3 children (Jim, Shelley and Lacey), 2 stepsons (Gerry and Mike), 9 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. She lived an extremely full life of travel, teaching and education, one of her many passions.

Phyllis, an only child, spent her formative years in Virginia and Vermont. She attended high school in Falls Church where she met the love of her life, James Woodrow Williams, who had come to a church event. They later re-united when Jim went to Harvard and she attended Boston University. She graduated from BU with a degree in speech therapy and education and a minor in history. She married Jim when she was 21 and in their early years, money was very tight. Their first home was a one bed apartment when Jim was in the Marines at Quantico and she worked as a speech therapist. Phyllis and Jim moved around quite a bit and then her firstborn trailblazer, Jimmy, came along in Oceanside, CA when Jim was stationed at Camp Pendleton. They then moved back to Boston when Jim got his MBA at Harvard and Phyllis had her second child, a sweet little girl named Shelley. As Jim’s career flourished, they moved to Houston where Phyllis became very active in the community and soon Phyllis had her third child, strong-willed Lacey, and a twin baby boy (Grant) who sadly died at birth.

Phyllis’s life in the 60s was a social whirlwind and they built a log cabin in Jackson Hole Wyoming where they would retreat to spend the summers. In the latter years of that decade, she ended up moving to Jackson Hole fulltime and taught second grade as a single mother, after she and Jim divorced. She loved the log cabin which backed up to the National Forest and often commented on the beauty of nature and wildlife. She would also try gardening, and despite having a large green thumb, her only success in Jackson was to grow a field full of turnips that her children didn’t especially appreciate. She would also go on to get her master’s degree in education at Idaho State University after commuting back and forth from Jackson to Pocatello.

After many years in Jackson, Phyllis moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho and married Terry Arrington. Along with a new husband, Phyllis gained two wonderful stepsons, Gerry and Mike, whom she loved very dearly.
Once in Idaho, she taught 4^th grade and loved it but was ready for a new challenge, and she successfully transitioned her commitment from children to become an adult educator. One of her proudest accomplishments was when in 1989 she started Executive Training Resources (ETR) and won a competitive contract with the Department of Energy at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab (INEEL). Her company, ETR, was awarded a Technology Transfer contract to provide performance-based training courses, and Phyllis taught and developed her ETR business for many years until she later sold it.

She taught courses at Boise State University, the Center for Advanced Management and Idaho State University. She also volunteered as a teacher and tutor at local elementary schools focusing on hands-on science projects, after she discovered a cache of discarded science project materials that she decided should be used.

She was named and listed in Who’s Who in US Executives, served on numerous boards including the Idaho Section of the American Nuclear Society and the American Society of Training and Development and was a member of Rotary International. Phyllis was renowned for her enthusiasm in giving speeches and went on to deliver keynote addresses at many venues including the American Society of Training and Development, the Soroptimists, Business and Professional Women, Professional Secretaries Symposium, the Department of Employment in Idaho and many others. She could keep an audience’s attention!
Phyllis loved to travel and as her career wound down, she traveled until the last years of her life. She set foot in all 50 states, and her international trips included Australia, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy, a month in Scotland, Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica, and many more. She enjoyed a trip to anticipate, and she made it a point to go see her grandchildren as often as she could manage. She spent several years sailing in the San Juan Islands after she and Terry bought a sailboat named the Foxy Freda, after her adored mother.

After Terry died and she tired of the long winters in Idaho, she moved to Little Rock to be closer to her daughter Shelley, and Shelley’s family. Phyllis became close to her Pointe Pleasant condo community in Little Rock, and she greatly appreciated their southern warmth and hospitality. She loved to host dinners at her condo whenever she could.

Phyllis loved to read and had a voracious interest in history and biographies. She preferred to have a project going, whether it was a needlepoint for her newest grandchild, a trip or a garden activity, and she was constantly planning something fun to anticipate. Phyllis was a fighter until the very end and an inspiration to her family.

Phyllis is survived by her children James Williams (Jennifer), Shelley Myers (John), Lacey Pedler (Bill) and grandchildren Rory Williams (Venice), Sophie Schoenebaum (Kyle), Braxtol Myers (Cristiana), Rhea Pedler, Joseph Myers, Philip Pedler, Wesley Williams, Ethan Arrington and Jimmy Williams; as well as many great grandchildren.

Preceding Phyllis in death are her parents, Father Reginald Eldred Woodyard (born in Ballston VA in 1900) and Mother Freda Schwartz (born in Montpelier VT in 1903) who were both professionals, Reginald was a bank treasurer and Freda was a county clerk, providing early foundations for Phyllis’s later ambitions and work ethic. Her maternal grandparents (Israel Schwartz, born in 1876, and Nettie Kertrusser 1881) were born in Bessarabia, then part of Russia, now Moldova. Her paternal grandparents, Praylow Woodyard and Lucy Swain, were both born in Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in loving memory of Phyllis Arrington to Camp Aldersgate 2000 Aldersgate Road, Little Rock, AR  72205 or Idaho Falls Symphony 440 North Capital Ave., Suite B, Idaho Falls, ID  83402.  Arrangements are to be made in Idaho Falls, Idaho at a later date with further details found on RuebelFuneralHome.com.