Phyllis A. Pearson

Shrewsbury – Phyllis A. Pearson died Monday, May 22, 2023.

Phyllis was born in Worcester, daughter of the late Edward J. and Mary V. (Condon) O’Connell. A graduate of Worcester State Teachers College with a  degree in Education, she later earned her Master’s degree in Education from Worcester State College and an additional Masters in Counseling Psychology from Anna Maria College.

She married Gilbert E. Pearson in 1959 and soon moved to Shrewsbury where they both raised their five children. Gil died in 1989.

Phyllis began her teaching career in the Grafton Public Schools and then moved to the Lake View School in Worcester. After staying home to raise her children,  she returned to teaching at the Beal School in Shrewsbury where she taught English and where many of her teaching colleagues became her lifelong friends. Upon the closing of the Beal School, she then taught at Spring Street School before retiring in 1992.

Phyllis was a board member for many years and past president of the Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union.   She also served on the board  of the Friends of the Shrewsbury Senior Center.

Phyllis loved music, especially opera, and in college studied music at the Boston Conservatory and the University of Chicago and performed regularly in the area.  She also loved history and frequently took her students to the national historic sites in Concord.  She also enjoyed her annual trips to Colonial Williamsburg, Washington, D.C. and Saratoga Springs, NY where she especially liked visiting the Saratoga racetrack.

Arrangements by James & John Heald of The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street, Waltham.