Phyllis Young

Phyllis Joy Young, age 84, of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, Kansas.

She was born in Portland on Dec. 26, 1940, the daughter of Dallas and Mary (Thornton) Van Skyock. She was a 1958 graduate of Portland High School and earned a bachelor of arts degree in education in 1964 and a master of arts degree in education in 1967 for special education, speech and hearing therapy from Ball State University.

Phyllis had a calm and patient demeanor and enjoyed working with children having speech and hearing therapy needs. As director of education at Crossroad in Fort Wayne, Phyllis provided counseling and mentoring for teens requiring behavioral intervention. She also had the God-given gift of writing beautiful poetry and was excellent at drawing cartoons and sketching lifelike portraits. Phyllis loved animals, enjoyed creating crafts, going antiquing, boating, and watching tennis, basketball and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Phyllis is survived by sister, Nelda (Paul) Shimp of Portland; nephew, Troy Shimp of Stockbridge, Georgia; niece, Robin Shimp of Portland; sister Rita (Fred) Webb of Portland; niece, Angela Webb of Portland; nephew, Trent Webb of Dayton, Ohio; and longtime friend Judy Limbach of Kansas City.

Phyllis will be deeply missed.