Ridgeway, MO: Phyllis Maxine Mlika was born in Ridgeway Mo February 4, 1936, to Joseph and Martha Mlika. She was united in marriage to Leslie Raymond Kinnison in 1955. They had three children, Teresa M. Kinnison, Billy Ray Kinnison of Mt Moriah, and David Joe Kinnison. Phyllis was a baptized believer in Jesus Christ from an early age and sent her children to vacation bible school here at Mt Moriah Baptist while they lived in the area.
They lived in Mt. Moriah where Phyllis and her mother would raise chickens and butcher them, and us kids liked to watch the headless chickens flop around, and we loved to eat the chicken feet she always cooked.
The family moved to Independence around 1965. Phyllis later began working for Western Electric/ ATT, in Lees Summit MO assembling electronic parts. After being laid off from AT&T she got a transfer to another facility, and her and Raymond moved to Phoenix Arizona for a couple of years so she could finish till her retirement.
Phyllis loved to cook, and spent many summers canning what Raymond grew in his garden, everything from tomatoes and green beans to pickled Okra, and once even some Carp that Raymond had caught. Her and Raymond spent many summer weekends and vacations at the Lake of the Ozarks where she would prepare delicious meals of the catfish caught on Raymonds trot lines.
Many other weekends and holidays were spent going āback homeā to Mt. Moriah to be with family.
After retiring Raymond and Phyllis eventually moved back to the place they always called āhomeā Mt Moriah, She enjoyed spending time quilting at the Baptist Church with Beverly Kinnison and others, and loved helping others, making trips to the city with friends and family for shopping and taking her sister Eva and good friends like Deleta Dinsmore to doctorsā visits.
One of the things she loved best in life was her grandson Joseph, named after her father. She kept him many nights while his father David worked, and many days he would ride the school bus to grandmaās in Mt Moriah and she was greatly proud of him.
She cared for Raymond for years after his legs were amputated. 2007 was a very sad year for Phyllis, when she lost her good friend Helen Bennett, her brother Robert Mlika, and Raymond her husband of 52 years, all within a few months. She was stricken with Alzheimerās/Dementia and her last years of life were spent in Sunset Home in Maysville, in the Alzheimerās unit where sadly she slowly faded away, in recent years struggling to recognize even close family.
Phyllis went to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on March 27th 2024. She is preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Martha Mlika, husband Raymond, her daughter Teresa, brothers Theodore, Dean, Earnest, Robert, Georgie and sister Eva Hart. She is survived by her two sons Billy and David, many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins from both the Mlika, Kinnison, Hart and other families.
Service were April 2, 2024 at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, Mt. Moriah, with burial at Bohemian Cemetery, Cainsville. Memorial donations to the Bohemian Cemetery. Tributes may be left at www.bethanymemorialchapel.com