Dr. Phyllis E. Worden

Phyllis Eileen, (Kemp) Worden of Cottonwood, AZ passed away on Saturday, June 20, 2009. She was born on May 31, 1940 in Laconia, New Hampshire, to Rev. Harry E. Kemp, an American Baptist minister from Otisfield, Maine and Portland, Maine and his wife Lela Jayne Legro from Penyan, New York. She is survived by her husband, Rev. Winston Lester Worden (Retired Christian Church, Disciples of Christ Minister) and their oldest son, Wayne Winston Worden of Cottonwood, and younger son Neil Flint Worden and his wife Margo and their only son Orlando Whitcomb Worden, 9 years old, and her only beloved grandson from Middlebury, VT. She is also survived by her three sisters, her older sister Barbara Scudder and husband David of Roxbury, NY, two younger sisters Rosalyn and Jonathan Reiff of Edmond, OK and their families daughters Cindy Richards of Dallas, TX, and her daughter Theresa Richards and granddaughter Mayah Richards, Sherry and John Thomas from Edmond, OK their daughters Kylie, Abrille and Revae. And Jennifer and Michael Giroux and their daughter Keagan: youngest sister Sherry Kiracofe and her husband, Norman from Kalamazoo, MI and their two daughters Christine and her husband Jon Rienstra and their sons Chris, Micah, and Caleb and youngest daughter Debora and her husband Mark Schultz and their son Camden also of Kalamazoo, MI . She also has a host of cousins and other relatives as survivors. She was a lifelong learner and scholar and a very creative, talented, dynamic and tireless worker in spite of her several life-long and life threatening illnesses such as heart disease and the breast cancer that re-occurred in the fall of 2006 and finally ended her life on Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 12:30 pm on Hospice care in the living room of our home at 713 E. Cherry Hills Way, Cottonwood, AZ with her husband Rev. Winston L. Worden as her primary care giver. She had three college degrees, a B.A. Degree in Home Economics from the American Baptist College in Ottawa, KS, a Master\u0027s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland and a P.H.D. in family life and counseling from Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS. She worked in cooperative extension for the US Department of Agriculture for 28 years before she took an early retirement from Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, CO in 1989/1990. All of her life, especially her married life, Phyllis was a tireless and almost unstoppable volunteer with her husband Winston Worden, after they moved from the Red Feather Lakes area of northern Colorado to Cottonwood, AZ in the spring of 2000. Phyllis then volunteered at Rainbow Acres for four years, she volunteered with the Verde Valley Caregivers Organization, and from 2002 -2009 she volunteered with Northern Arizona Hospice, working with terminally ill cancer patients. She was very active and faithful in her church, One in Christ Church of Cottonwood, AZ and very involved in the local chapter of the National Assoc. of Active Retired Federal Employees, for the last four years she served as an officer, and eventually the regional officer for five states, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming for the education and promotion of information about Alzheimer\u0027s Disease, Research and support. The national Organization had given 7 to 8 million dollars toward this effort. Phyllis also loved music and sang with the Verde Valley Voices for three years, but her deteriorating voice and health wouldn\u0027t allow her to continue. A beautiful and exceptional Memorial Service will be held at the dining hall of Rainbow Acres just east of the Yavapai Apache Reservation in Camp Verde, AZ on the Middle Verde Road at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 15th. A Graveside Service will follow at the New Columbarium at Rainbow Acres Memorial contributions may be sent in Phyllis\u0027s name to: Rainbow Acres, P.O. Box 1326, Camp Verde, AZ 86324 An Online guest book is available at www.westcott funeralhome.com