Phyllis Ann Vandehei, 85, of Ventura, CA passed peacefully on December 14, 2016. Phyllis was born in Monroe, Michigan on March 21, 1931, the oldest daughter of Michael and Fannie Kopko. Phyllis graduated from Immaculata High School in Detroit in 1949, then attended Siena Heights College and graduated in 1953 with a Bachelors degree in Commercial Art. A devout Catholic, her faith in God inspired and sustained her throughout her life.
Phyllis loved adventure. She left Michigan in the mid-1950s and drove out to California with her friend Mary Lou. She was the first un-chaperoned woman to climb Ship Rock in New Mexico. She bagged peaks in the Rocky Mountains, hiked in the Grand Tetons, skied in Colorado and California, surfed the Pacific Ocean, and settled in California to teach 6th grade in Camarillo.
A mutual friend set Phyllis up with her future husband Peter Vandehei in 1957. Peter asked Phyllis to go surfing and their beautiful journey began. Peter proposed to Phyllis on Telescope Peak in Death Valley National Park after she out-hiked him to the summit, and they married on March 29, 1958 at Santa Clara Church in Oxnard.
Moving to Ventura, they surfed California Street together from 1957 through the early 1970's while managing to make 6 children in between sessions. Later, they hung up their surfboards and joined the Cabrillo Racquet Club, where they spent many years playing tennis with their friends. Each winter they packed the whole family in the van and headed for the slopes, skiing all over the mountain and leaving no trail or jump untouched. Her life was full of adventure every day.
Phyllis was a true artist and it showed in all of her creative projects. She and Pete worked hard to build the beautiful home that they shared for 58 1/2 years. As their family grew, they built 7 additions to the house. Phyllis spent hours with the kids loading all the building materials into the van, shoveling sand into boxes for the rocks and bricks she cemented, building custom stained glass windows, and tiling the floor and arches.
She craved and loved the outdoors and shared that passion with her children. Piling all 6 kids into one Volkswagen van, she travelled across the country to Texas and Michigan, stopping at all the National Parks and roadside attractions along the way, sleeping in the rest stops and eating canned Dinty Moore Beef Stew. She devoted her life to raising her children and to exposing them to the beauty of the natural world, leading them on trips to the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Zion, Bryce, Carlsbad Caverns, Nashville, Lake Superior, Wyoming, Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore.
Phyllis was preceded in death by her son Sverre Vandehei (wife Kim). Her husband Peter Vandehei survives her, as do sons Sven Vandehei, Leif Vandehei (wife Terri), and Thor Vandehei (wife Eleanor), daughters Heidi Lanning (husband Rex) and Schatzi Sovich (husband Jan). She is also survived by her older brother Jim Kopko and younger sisters Dee Snyder and Karen Schultz, her much-adored thirteen grandchildren – Josh, Eli, Rusty, Pete, Zeke, Ashley, Rocky, Bailey, Leisl, Brigitta, Taylor, Katarina and Beatrix – and three great-grandchildren.
Family and friends are invited to a Memorial Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated on Tuesday December 27, 2016 at 10am in Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 10800 Henderson Street Ventura. Arrangements are under the direction of the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, 757 E. Main Street Ventura.