Phyllis Lenore LiaBraaten, age 90, of Springfield, Ore., passed away on Jan. 15, 2021 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
She was born Aug. 2, 1930 in Trail, Minn., to Helmer and Mavis Christopherson. She attended primary school in Trail and graduated from Gonvick High School as salutatorian. Her accounting studies in Bemidji, Minn. were interrupted when she married Glenn LiaBraaten on Dec. 11, 1948. They moved to West Virginia, Minn., where Glenn began a 42-year career in the propane gas industry, and they started a family that by 1964 included eight children. That year they moved to Washington state and several years later to Springfield. Phyllis was a bookkeeper for Cascade Propane and Suburban Propane, and retired at the age of 75.
Survivors include four sons – Larry of Seattle, Dale of Yuba City, Calif., Scott of Eugene, Ore., and Richard of Auburn, Wash., three daughters – Linda Barrett of LaConner, Wash., Sandra Ramey of Salem, Ore., and June LaTondre of Vancouver, Wash. A sister (EvaLee Janssen of Gonvick, Minn.) and a brother (Jerry Christopherson of Tyler, Texas) also survive. Phyllis and Glenn have 19 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. Preceding her in death were her husband, her son, Steven, granddaughter, Michelle Barrett, and her brother, Darrell Christopherson.
Arrangements by Musgrove Family Mortuary.
