Phyllis Eilene Auger McWhirk
Phyllis Eilene Auger McWhirk, aka Peter Eilene or just Pete, our beloved mother and grandmother, was born Jan. 28, 1929, and peacefully passed away on June 30, 2023, in the presence of loving family at the age of 94 in Sunnyside, Washington.
Born in Michigan to Olga Paulson Auger and Samuel Beck Auger, the family moved to Libby, Montana in the 1930s where she was raised with her older brother Donald Auger and a multitude of cousins.
She graduated from Libby High School and worked in the local small-town grocery store, where one day she met the love of her life Howard Goodrich McWhirk. They married on June 3, 1952, and later sealed as a family in the Salt Lake City Temple for time and all eternity.
They raised four children, David Jay McWhirk and his wife Louie of Spokane, Washington, Julie Eilene Adams of Lehi, Utah, Sally Ann Wilkins of Pasco, Washington, and Dean Alan McWhirk and wife Amber of Prosser, Washington.
As a couple, they also lived in Alaska during the pipeline days of the 1970s. They eventually moved to Sunnyside, Washington, purchasing a lovely red farm house on a 24-acre orchard off Sheller Road. They worked side by side during harvest, mother driving the forklift to move the bins of picked apples.
At the end of harvest, they would host an annual bonfire roast and apple juicing party for friends and neighbors.
The family feels the loss of her sweet spirit yet has accepted her earthly journey is over, because we know she is moving on to bigger and better things. Standing only 4-feet-11-inches, when asked how tall she is, she would say “I’m tall enough to reach the floor and that’s all that matters!”
Up and down on a kitchen stool, she would make delicious meals, but more importantly a pie crust that her daughters and granddaughters are still trying to duplicate (her secret ingredient was an extra teaspoon of sugar that was not in the recipe.)
She enjoyed her friends and her cousins, who she would often visit for an afternoon of gabbing or playing pinochle. She was always up for a drive in the country and took pride in what a good driver she was.
Peter Eilene was preceded in death by her husband Howard in 2002. We’re sure our Papa is giving her a huge heavenly hug after waiting so long for her to join him. She is survived by her four children, 12 grandchildren and many great and great-great-grandchildren who all love their “Momo, Grandma Pete.”
Unable to walk, she lived her later years with her youngest son Dean in Prosser, Washington, and was cared for daily by his angelic wife Amber. Her final days were spent at Prestige Care and Rehab in Sunnyside, Washington, to whom we are grateful for their good care.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 22 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Prosser, Washington. Flowers will be provided by Morris Floral and Gifts of Sunnyside.
We appreciate Prosser Funeral Home and Crematory for final arrangements. Family will be traveling across the U.S. to attend the services and would love to reunite with any of Pete’s special people. Hope to see you there... and to Mom, this is only but a moment – we will see you again!
