Phyllis A. Marcotte

In Loving Memory of Our Wife, Mother, Grandmother and Friend

Phyllis Ann Marcotte began her extraordinary life on February 28th, 1930. Phyllis was born in Kankakee, Illinois to Joseph and Della Kirsten. Through the course of her life, Phyllis and her surviving husband, Wayne Marcotte, loved and cared for their five children and three grandchildren with great adoration. Love, faith and her dedication to friendship and family graced Phyllis's life until her final moments here on earth. On October 31, 2010, while surrounded by family, Phyllis was welcomed home by God where she will remain in peace for all eternity.
While growing up in Kankakee, IL, Phyllis was raised alongside her beloved older brother, Virgil Kirsten. Phyllis attended St. Patrick's Catholic School from kindergarten through the twelfth grade where she met her future husband of sixty years, Wayne. In 1948, at the age of eighteen, Phyllis courageously traveled to Denver, CO to attend Loretto Heights College. While in Denver, she was reunited with her brother Virgil; however, she attended classes for only one year and subsequently returned to her home in Kankakee.
Upon returning to Illinois, her high school sweetheart, Wayne, asked her to move to Washington D.C. where he had been living while in the Air Force. Phyllis accepted the invitation and moved to D.C. in 1949. Shortly after, on August 2, 1950, Phyllis Kirsten and Wayne Marcotte were wed at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Washington D.C. Wayne and Phyllis remained in D.C. for three years where she worked at Bolling Air Force Base alongside Wayne. The recently wedded couple then moved back to the Chicago area, and purchased their first home at 13820 S. Wabash in Riverdale, IL. Shortly after moving to Dolton, IL in 1955, Phyllis and Wayne adopted their first child, Sherry, who would eventually lose a difficult battle with cancer on May 25th, 2003. In 1960, Phyllis, Wayne and their four-year old child, Sherry, moved to Denver as the Marcotte family.
While in Denver, Phyllis and Wayne purchased their third home at 2500 S. Cherry St. located in the University Hills area. Out of love and a strong desire to share that gift with a family, Phyllis and Wayne continued to adopt children and raise them unconditionally as their own. In 1962, Brad Marcotte was adopted; in 1963 Sandra Marcotte, followed by Todd Marcotte in 1964. The Marcotte family had flourished into a family of four children who were all blessed with an endless amount of care and affection.
In 1969, Phyllis and Wayne purchased their fourth and final home in southeast Denver. As her parents began to age, Phyllis and Wayne made the decision to purchase this more spacious home that would not only accommodate their children, but also her parents. Within this one home, Phyllis and Wayne placed the wellbeing of both their children and Phyllis's parents before themselves, a truly remarkable act.
Phyllis and Wayne provided each of their four children with twelve years of parochial and private education at Most Precious Blood School, Machebeuf High School, and Randall Moore. Through all the years of her children's education, Phyllis enjoyed being quite involved in school activities. In addition to her responsibilities at home, she volunteered as a playground supervisor and as an assistant physical educator, once again exhibiting her love for not only her own children, but for all. While Phyllis's children attended Most Precious Blood, she befriended Kathy Metros, who would eventually become a wonderful friend and someone that Phyllis would speak fondly of for decades to come.
As Phyllis cared for her loving family, she was fortunate enough to welcome several
wonderful friends into her life. While living on Cherry Street, Phyllis established wonderful, life
long relationships with friends and neighbors; most notably, Audrey Sparks.
Her strong desire to reach out of her own home and into the world, lead her to the YMCA on Yale and Colorado Blvd. While Phyllis was an aquatics instructor for several years at the 'Y,' she acquired generous and caring friends. To name just a very few, Ricky Nelson, Cynthia Foley, Rita Kelly, Pat Haggerty, Nancy Barkow, and Shirley Akridge, who would all touch Phyllis's life in a meaningful way.
In 1980, Phyllis's youngest son, Todd, was diagnosed with a life threatening brain tumor at the tender age of fifteen. Todd endured a twelve-hour operation during which Phyllis and the entire Marcotte family demonstrated a tremendous display of love and faith. From the beginning of Todd's surgery, until he had regained all his vitality, his mother's strength, compassion and love, was unwavering. Through this experience, Phyllis and Todd developed a very unique relationship in which Phyllis would spend everyday of the next thirty years standing by her son.
By the age of 51, Phyllis and Wayne had raised their own four children into their late teens and early twenties, only to be faced with a lifetime of experiences for the second time. In February of 1982, Sherry and her seven-month old baby, Bradley, were welcomed back into the Marcotte home while seeking comfort from previous difficulties. Phyllis and Wayne, after already having raised four of their own children, chose to accept Bradley as one of their own. Phyllis and Wayne automatically became "mom" and "dad" to their first grandchild, a role they happily accepted from 1982 until present.
In 1985 and 1987, Sandra's two children, Christopher and Daniel Cogdill, were also welcomed to the family. Phyllis and Wayne were grateful to be grandparents to Chris and Dan, who spent an exceptional amount of time during the early years of their lives receiving care and love from their two affectionate grandparents. In 1995, Sherry's second child, Sandra, was born in Connecticut, and always held a special place Phyllis's heart.
Phyllis was very proud of each and every one of her children for all of their accomplishments. She admired Sherry for overcoming the many obstacles that she had encountered throughout her lifetime. She felt pride in Brad's accomplishments at Lockheed Martin where he advanced so rapidly as a professional. Phyllis absolutely adored the family that Sandy had so willingly raised and loved, and cherished Todd's determination to live a happy and successful life developing innumerable skills that would bring comfort and a great sense of joy to the family. In her later years, she was pleased to see Bradley discover his calling as a piano teacher who strived to encourage children to succeed.
Phyllis remained as physically active as possible during the remainder of her life and continued to care for her family in the same fashion that she had strived to do so in the past. Phyllis faced life altering events in July of 2006 and spent fifteen weeks in hospitals and care facilities. Through the strength and faith that she had instilled in her family she came home for four more wonderful Thanksgivings and Christmases. Phyllis continually embraced and accepted people into her life until the end. She felt great joy to be loved by Danielle D'Anci in her last few years, and to witness her marriage to Bradley Marcotte in June of 2010 was a blessing. Phyllis looked forward to the idea of new grandchildren with which she could continue to share her love and joy of family.
During the last four years of Phyllis's life, Todd chose to altruistically repay his mother by demonstrating the same strength, compassion and love that she had shown to him throughout his life. Through Todd and Wayne's selfless actions, Phyllis was able to enjoy the final years of her life at home surrounded by her family. Until this day, November 8th, 2010, Todd continued to show his love and dedication to his mother by carrying her to her final resting place with the Lord full of warmth, love, and peace.