Phyllis Mary Steiner Frothingham

February 28, 1929 – July 27, 2010

Phyllis Frothingham was born in Seattle, WA and spent her early years there and in Spokane, WA. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1951.

In the early 1950s she joined the State Department and was assigned to the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt. In 1955, together with her husband and unborn daughter, she embarked on a journey home through multiple European countries and finally by a new Chevrolet across the US to her family’s home in Seattle where three days after arrival she gave birth to the first of her four children.

Over the next several decades she moved many times with her husband and growing family to MA, LA, CT, OR, and NC while raising her four children. While in North Carolina she worked for a time as writer and editor at Duke University, and as an administrator at the newly created North Carolina School of Science and Math. Between 1984 and 2000, she lived on Bainbridge Island, WA, where she cared for her mother, worked in real estate, and enjoyed her favorite view of Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier.

She spent her last years in a peaceful home in South Dartmouth, MA with frequent visits from children, grandchildren and other family members. Her spirit of adventure never waned. In her mid seventies she drove with her beloved dog back and forth across the country to visit family in Washington state.

She is survived by Frothingham family members, former husband Thomas Eliot, her children Phyllis Eliot, Thomas Dean, Benjamin Rotch and David Griffith; and seven grandchildren. In the Steiner family she is survived by her brothers Gary and Griffith.

Family and friends will celebrate her life at her home at 26 Lucy Street in Padanaram on Saturday July 31st and at a later date in Seattle

TRIBUTE Paid Notice