BENGUHE, PHYLLIS PHILOMENA TANA

Phyllis Philomena Tana was born in Englewood, New Jersey in 1934 and died peacefully in her sleep on August 22, 2018. She was a woman ahead of her time studying medical technology, education and music. She worked in a hospital and as a teacher and then she married and became a full-time homemaker for her husband and three children. She never stopped learning, growing and spreading her wings and talents. She spread those talents to her three children teaching them each to play instruments while spending countless hours helping them with their schoolwork for hours each day. She eventually attained one of her lifelong dreams when she sang on stage for the Arizona Opera Company. She was also a talented artist whose work shined on everything from oil paintings she decorated the house with, to a fifty-foot canvas backdrop for a high school play she completed by hand. After what should have been a lethal stroke in 2009, she continued to showcase her talent even while confined to a wheelchair making greeting cards she sold to everyone she met. She lived out the final years of her life where she wanted and loved – her home – being frequently visited by her family and friends who she never stopped entertaining by playing past recordings of her musical performances to anyone who would listen. Carrying on the legacy of her life will be her three sons, John, Philip and Chris, her daughter-in-law Natasha, her granddaughter Larisa and her cherished “adopted” daughter Kayne Cboins.