Roybelle Phillips

– Our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother peacefully went into the arms of her savior Friday, Jan. 2, 2015, in her own home after suffering a a catastrophic stroke Nov. 15, 2014. She was surrounded by her three daughters and grandson along with her beloved companion dog, Bruiser.

She was born Jan. 24, 1932, to Marion and Violet (Caig) Ratliff in Davenport, Oregon. Roybelle was the oldest of five children. She was a Depression child and traveled the "Grapes of Wrath" with her family until finally settling in Los Animas, Colorado. As a teenager, she helped her father at his gas station and when she wasn't working she would stay up late doing her homework with a flashlight in her closet to keep from disturbing her siblings. After graduation in 1950, she left home for Cottage Grove, Oregon. She met our father at a dance nearby, where our dad fell head over heels for her and married her Nov. 4, 1951. Our parents moved from Oregon in 1954 to Spokane, where they raised their family before moving to Clarkston, Washington, in 1969.

Mother worked almost 30 years for Harold Vaughn Insurance of Clarkston, before retiring and moving to Missoula to live with her youngest daughter.

She loved gardening, baking her family their favorite goodies, sewing, reading devotionals, music and most especially going to lunch with her girlfriends from church. Mother in earlier years was a member of an exclusive women's group called "The Steely-Eyed Mountain Women," a camping and travel group.

Mom was our best friend, confidante and counselor. She loved all of her family and kept in touch with her brother and sister-in-law, Dick and Sandra Phillips of Lewiston, Idaho, for family news.

She was preceded in death by her husband and son. Survived by her three daughters, Dawn Hughes of Clarkston, Mark Backenstoe of Boise, Tami Phillips of Missoula; as well as six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She has a sister, Lee Thrasher of North Carolina; and Jim Ratliff, her brother, also survives her.

Memorial services are Thursday, Jan. 8, at 11 a.m. at Faith Baptist Church of Missoula. A spring memorial is pending at Clarkston.
Read Roybelle Phillips's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.