Phyllis Annebeth Dawson
Phyllis Annebeth Dawson, longtime resident of Iowa Park, passed away early Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Columbus, Mississippi after a brief illness. She was 89 years old.
Mrs. Dawson was born to Jesse and Jettie Rose Phelon on September 11, 1930 in Hayti, Missouri. She met her beloved husband, Bob, at Hayti High School, from where they both graduated. She and Bob, with their 9 year old son, Robert, and infant daughter, Mary Ann, moved to Iowa Park in 1957.
Annebeth graduated, Magna Cume Laude, from Midwestern University in 1961. She soon after began her teaching career at Kidwell Elementary and taught in the Iowa Park system for 28 years. She received a Masters degree in reading education from Midwestern University in 1980.
Mrs. Dawson was a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma honorary teachers society and secretary of the Iowa Park Cemetery Association. She was State Vice President of the International Reading Association and was a presenter at their annual meeting in Dallas in 1966. She was an active member of First Baptist Church of Iowa Park, where she taught an Adult Teachers’ Bible Study and coordinated the second grade department for many years. Following her retirement from the Iowa Park Schools, she taught adult literacy for Region 9 Educational Service Center and at Bright Beginnings School in Wichita Falls.
Annebeth was a devoted grandmother and sports fan. She and Bob enjoyed traveling countless miles to attend the soccer, baseball, basketball, football and tennis events their beloved five grandchildren participated in. She was a voracious reader and an avid political observer even until the time of her passing.
She is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 65 years, Bob Dawson, her brother, Jerry Phelon, and granddaughter, Jacqueline Ruth Riley.
She is survived by her daughter Mary Ann Pryor and husband Roger of West Point, Mississippi; Son Robert Dawson and wife Judy of Georgetown, Texas.; Grandchildren: Mark Stephen Shields of Austin, TX, Robert Andrew Shields and wife, Natalie of Austin, TX, Bonnie Caroline Riley of West Point, MS, Philip Drury Dawson and wife Shannon of Austin, TX, Peter Gettings Dawson and wife Kristi of The Woodlands, TX; Great grandchildren: Dru, Beau and Sophieann Dawson of Austin, TX, Gus Dawson of The Woodlands, TX, and Jack Dawson Oliver of West Point, MS; a sister, Anita Joyce Land of Waterford, MI; and extended family across the United States.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, February 15 at Highland Cemetery Pavilion.
Memorials may be made to The Iowa Park Cemetery Association
