Phoebe May Lindvall

Phoebe May Withrow Lindvall, 93, passed away February 11, 2008, with her children at her side. The daughter of Myrtle May and Roy Wilkin Withrow, she was born June 14, 1914, in Gilman, Illinois. She married Robert Marcus Lindvall in June, 1942. Her survivors include her two children, daughter Marie Lindvall and son Richard Lindvall, sister Helen Terpening of Geneseo, Illinois, and numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and sisters Doris McConkey and Ruth Withrow. Phoebe was raised in Geneseo, Illinois by her mother and grandfather, William L. Myers. She graduated from Geneseo Township High School in 1932, a member of the National Honor Society. In 1939, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in chemistry, from Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois and was a member of the Runic Honor Society. She received a Master of Arts in Librarianship from the University of Denver in August, 1966. Phoebe worked in the Geneseo Public Library over a period of years during her high school and college years, and in 1941 served as assistant librarian. During World War II she worked as a chemist at Woodward Governor Co. in Rockford, Illinois, and at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. After the war, she accompanied her husband, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, on his various field trips to North Dakota and Montana, moving to Denver, Colorado in 1949. In September, 1965, she was employed by the Denver Public Schools as a librarian at West High School, retiring on May 17, 1980. In the 1950s, Mrs. Lindvall was active in Girl Scouts, as a troop leader and neighborhood chairman for the Mile High Council in southwest Denver. She became a member of the newly opened Southwest Branch of the YMCA and was a charter member, with her husband, of its Go-Getters Club for seniors. Regrettably, her health began to decline during the mid 1990s and she was unable to continue participating in Go-Getters and in other social activities. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 12:30 p.m. at Horan & McConaty Mortuary Chapel, 3101 S. Wadswoth Blvd. in Lakewood with interment at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Visitation will be during the day on Monday, February 18th. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Denver Botanic Gardens, 909 York Street, Denver, CO 80206.