Phyllis Drape Fell

DRAPE, FELL, RAHLF, THORNDIKE, SCHEUER

Posted By: Ruth Maring - Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/12/2006 at 12:00:25

The Clinton Herald
Published: August 10, 2006 01:01 pm

Phyllis Drape Fell

Phyllis Drape Fell, 77, died Wednesday, July 26, at CGH Medical Center in Sterling, Ill., following several months of declining health.

She was born to Theodore and Viola Rahlf Drape on Aug. 30, 1928, in Waterloo, Iowa. The family lived in Denver, Iowa, and later in Waverly, Iowa. Phyllis graduated from Waverly High School in 1945. She attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where she met her husband, David Fell. They were married in 1948 and graduated in 1949.

While her husband was in medical school in Chicago, Phyl worked as a cereal chemist. The couple moved to Morrison, Ill., in 1954 where David Fell was a physician until his death on Dec. 11, 1989.

Fell was elected Morrison’s first female alderman in 1975 and served the city until 1995. She was active in the Girl Scouts and was town cookie chair for 15 years. Fell worked with Morrison Music Theatre both on and offstage. She was in that organization’s first show, Annie Get Your Gun, in 1962. Her favorite roles were Golde in Fiddler on the Roof and Bloody Mary in South Pacific which she played in 1963 and again in 1982.

For 30 years Fell was the director of the Morrison Food Pantry. She saw there was a need for a food pantry in Morrison, so she set one up with the support of Morrison’s Ministerial Council. Fell was active in her church and sang in the Methodist Choir for many, many years. She also served on various church boards and committees.

For the past seven years, Fell worked as a volunteer tutor in Morrison schools. She started going to the grade school for an hour once a week, but moved up to the junior high and ended up going two hours a day, three days a week.

Fell was a member of the Whiteside County Mental Health Board and was president when she resigned just weeks before she died. Fell was a member of the Odell Library Board and was treasurer at the time of her death. She was an avid reader.

The Masons presented Fell with the Community Builders Award on April 11, 1986; and the Morrison Minister’s Council honored her for her work with the food pantry in January, 1992. On April 1, 1995, Fell was presented with the KWQC TV6 Woman of Spirit and Note Award. In July 2005, she was recognized by the Morrison Sesquicentennial as a Civic and Community Achiever.

Fell is survived by her brother: Robert Drape of Etna, N.H. and Geneva, Switzerland; three children: Sarah (William) Thorndike of Morrison, Ill.; Jennifer “Jeffer” (James) Scheuer of Owen, Wis.; and Andrew (Deborah) Fell of Urbana, Ill.; and four grandchildren: William “Bert” and Jennifer Thorndike and Ian and Emma Fell.

She was preceded in death by her husband, David, her parents and one granddaughter.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, at the United Methodist Church in Morrison. Memorials may be directed to the Odell Public Library in Morrison or the Morrison Food Pantry.

Phyllis Drape Fell

Sterling, Illinois

August 30, 1928 - July 26, 2006