Phyllis (Phyl) M. Townsend, 80, of Rapid City, died Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at Rapid City Regional Hospital surrounded by her family.

She was born on October 18, 1935 to Oscar and Sigrid (Paulson) Anderson in Ryder, North Dakota. She was the second youngest child out of seven. Phyl grew up in Cyrus, Minnesota, graduating from Cyrus High School. After graduation, Phyl traveled all over the country with her friends earning her teaching certificate along the way.

During her travels, Phyl taught school in Montana, California, Iran, Ellsworth Airforce Base outside of Rapid City and at E.B. Berquist Elementary and Knollwood Elementary in Rapid City where she retired in 1998.

She married William Townsend on June 10, 1962 in Tacoma, WA. Bill was serving in the Air Force and stationed at Ellsworth AFB when he was transferred to Tehran, Iran where Phyl taught at the American School. In 1976, William was tragically killed in an airplane crash and Phyl and Lisa returned to Rapid City.

Phyl was a member of Rapid City Rotary, the Black Hills Symphony League, the Red Hat Society, and enjoyed spending her time with retired teacher friends from the Rapid City Area and Douglas School District.

Phyl will be remembered as the "Hat Lady" and a classy person. She loved to play and spend time with her family, especially her grandchildren. When she wasn't spending time with her family she was traveling the world with her friends, enjoying books with her book club ladies, golfing with her Tuesday morning girlfriends, eating with friends at Tally's or Enigma, and getting her nails done.

She is survived by her daughter, Lisa Hafer and her husband, Rob and their three children; Natalee, Cat and Kurt and her sister, Bernice Thompson, Minneapolis, Minn.

Phyl was preceded in death by her husband, William, her parents, two sisters, (Lavone and Mavis), and three brothers (Merle, Dennis, and Verdell).

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 am, Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at South Canyon Lutheran Church with Pastor Bruce Thalacker officiating. Inurnment will take place at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Storybook Island in Phyl's name. She took Lisa there when she was a child and continued this tradition with her grandchildren. She loved being there during the warm summer evenings and it was always tradition to go during the Christmas holiday season.