Phyllis Ann Jensen

Phyllis Ann Jensen, 85 of Abilene, passed away at home on July 31st, 2026. A visitation will be held on Thursday August 6th from 6-8pm at Piersall Funeral Directors, 733 Butternut St. A graveside service will be held on Friday August 7th at 1:00pm at the Texas State Veteran Cemetery at Abilene with Bishop Rob Nichols officiating.

MEMORIAL STORY

In Loving Memory of Phyllis Jensen

A Life of Christian Love

Some lives are not measured by public accomplishments or recognition, but by the quiet, faithful way they love others. Phyllis was one of those rare souls whose life was a quiet demonstration of Christian love lived out every day.

The words of 1 Corinthians 13 tell us that love is patient and kind, humble and gentle, never self-seeking, rejoicing in truth, always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, always persevering. Those who knew Phyllis did not simply hear those words read in church—they watched her live them out. Her life was a testimony that love is not merely something we say or feel. It was something she did.

Phyllis Ann Dodd was born on November 23, 1940, in Breese, Illinois, to Jesse Hubern Dodd and Selma Walters Dodd. She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, alongside her brothers, Jimmy Joe and Hube, and her sister, P.K. Eventually she made her way to Abilene Christian College, where an unexpected encounter would forever change the course of her life.

One fateful May evening in 1962 at Mickey’s, a popular hamburger drive-in, a car full of young women from Abilene Christian College crossed paths with a car carrying two young airmen from Dyess Air Force Base. Friendly conversation soon led to a first date.

By almost every outward measure, Roger and Phyllis came from different worlds. She was the daughter of an attorney, raised with the etiquette and charm of a Southern lady, nearing graduation from Abilene Christian College. He was a young enlisted airman, raised by a salt-of-the-earth family on their South Dakota farm. But such differences didn’t matter to Phyllis. What mattered to her was character. Together Phyllis and Roger built a marriage of deep faith, steadfast devotion, and enduring partnership that would span more than six decades—a love story not built on circumstance, but on real commitment.

Outside of her family, her greatest calling was education. For four decades, Phyllis devoted her professional life to children, especially those with special needs. Her career as a teacher and leader began at the Abilene State School before continuing years later at Abilene High School, Cooper High School, and the Travis Opportunity Center.

Long before inclusion became a familiar word, Phyllis devoted her life to children whose abilities others too often underestimated. She saw beyond diagnoses and disabilities. She saw children created in the image of God, each deserving patience, dignity, opportunity, and love.

She believed every child possessed immeasurable worth and deserved the opportunity to succeed. She often said that the greatest gift she could give a student was the ability to read. “If they can read,” she believed, “they can figure out almost anything else.” To Phyllis, teaching children to read was never simply about words on a page. It was about opening doors that otherwise might never have been opened. That conviction shaped her teaching and inspired thousands of hours spent patiently encouraging students who often faced obstacles others could scarcely imagine. Through her patience, determination, and unwavering belief in every child’s potential, she changed lives that only eternity will fully measure.

As a military wife during the Cold War and Vietnam era, Phyllis created a home wherever duty called. She understood that serving her family meant providing stability, encouragement, and love through moves, uncertainty, and sacrifices.

Her devotion to her family was expressed in the quiet rhythms of everyday life. It began before sunrise, sharing coffee with Roger, where conversations about the day ahead, life’s challenges, and tomorrow’s dreams became the quiet ritual of a marriage built on faith and steadfast devotion.

Then came waking children, making breakfast, washing faces, combing hair, ensuring homework was packed and everyone was ready for the day. After a long day of teaching, dinner was on the table. The family gathered together. Then came evening dishes, clothes readied for tomorrow, homework finished, and baths taken. Somewhere between caring for Roger, raising her children, teaching her students, supporting her church, and serving those around her, she somehow found time to care for herself.

She made it all feel so ordinary that it was easy to miss the extraordinary woman who made it all happen. Those countless small acts of service became a language she spoke fluently—her way of saying, “I love you,” countless times a day.

Throughout her life, what mattered most to Phyllis was showing God’s love to the people God placed before her. For Phyllis, love wasn’t measured by what we said, but by what we quietly did for one another, day after day, expecting nothing in return. Whether in her classroom, her church, her neighborhood, or her own home, she demonstrated that Christian love is active. It serves. It encourages. It sacrifices. It perseveres.

For the past eleven years, Roger and Phyllis walked together through the long journey of Alzheimer’s disease. While the disease gradually stole many things, it never diminished the dignity, gentleness, or preciousness of the woman her family knew and loved. Throughout those years they found strength in God’s promises and in the hope that had always anchored their faith.

Early in that journey, Phyllis heard Jimmy Fortune’s song On the Far Side Banks of Jordan. Its message of a temporary separation and the joyful hope of reunion in Christ strengthened their hearts through difficult years and became deeply meaningful to them both. It reminded them that death is not the end for those who belong to Christ, but simply the crossing into His presence, where loved ones will meet again.

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) also became a song of deep meaning, beautifully expressing the confidence that defined her faith—the assurance that for those who belong to Christ, death is not the end but the beginning of eternal life in His presence. Today, the chains of illness no longer bind her. She has been made whole, set free, and embraced by the Savior she loved and faithfully served.

Those who loved Phyllis will remember many things: her quiet strength, her gentle spirit, her unwavering faith, and the countless ordinary ways she expressed extraordinary love. Her students will remember a teacher who believed in them. Her family will remember a devoted wife, mother, and Mimi whose love could always be counted on. Her friends will remember someone who listened more than she spoke, gave more than she received, and reflected Christ more through her actions than her words.

Those who knew Phyllis did not have to wonder what Christian love looked like. They saw it—in a classroom where every child was worth teaching, around a dinner table where everyone was cared for, beside a husband who was faithfully loved, and in a life that quietly reflected Christ every ordinary day.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Until the day of joyful reunion, we thank God for the gift of Phyllis’s life and rest in the promise that because Christ lives, she lives also.

“She is at peace, now.”