Tributes

Phyllis was born in rural central Illinois on September 5, 1936 to Frank and Juanita Genseal, the second of three children. She spent her early years in Astoria, IL but in 1949 her family moved west for her father's health, eventually coming to Turlock, CA. In 1954 she graduated from Turlock High School and attended San Jose State for 2 years. An opportunity came to become a legal secretary and she pursued that career for several years. During her high school years, she had been active in the Covenant Church and came to know Dale Larson. In 1959 they were married and established their first home in Turlock. Dale was a pharmacist working in Ceres, but in 1962 came an opportunity to purchase Ripon Drug Store. She and Dale moved to Ripon and she continued her legal secretary work. However, it soon became apparent that Dale could use her help at the store and so became the start of a long career in the life of the pharmacy, bookkeeper, product buyer, employee confidant and whatever else needed doing. Her retirement came in 1997. During this time, she also became the mother of two daughters, Sharon and Inger. Phyllis had always been involved wherever she was, first high school (band and athletics) in church (Sunday school and youth counsellor) and the community (Soroptimist and Interfaith Ministries). Phyllis was active in the Covenant Church in Ripon and also in regional commissions of the church. She twice organized transportation to bring senior high students from California to a national summer camp in Colorado. With Soroptomists she was mentor to the Ripon Almond Festival queen contestants. She liked to travel and her experiences began early with a honeymoon trip to Mexico City. Vacations usually involved travel in the US and occasional cruises. The high point in their travels was a three month around the world cruise on the farewell trip of the Queen Elizabeth II. After retirement they built a new home in Escalon where they lived for several years before entering a retirement residence in Santa Barbara. After several years there, the ties in Ripon drew them back. Never happy to be idle, her retirement years brought opportunities to serve a mission school in Mexico, summer trips to Alaska where she served as a cook for work parties at Alaska Christian College and in Santa Barbara she took on management of the gift shop at the village. Her daughter, Inger passed away in 2010. She is survived by husband, Dale and daughter, Sharon. A memorial service will be held on Friday, February 14, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at Heartland Community Church in Ripon, CA.

Tributes

Phyllis Larson (Genseal)

September 5, 1936 - February 8, 2025