Phyllis Jean DeJong (Kilgo) was born November 5, 1951, the oldest of the four children of Lawrence and Helen Kilgo. The first four years of Phyllis’ life were pure bliss as she enjoyed all the blessings of being an only child. It was when her twin siblings Rhonda and Ronald came into the world that life would drastically change. As Phyllis would tell everyone, life as an only child was her preference though she grew to love, respect, and lean on her siblings over the years. The Kilgo clan was completed with the birth of baby brother, David who by all accounts was Phyllis’ best friend in their teenage years.
The four Kilgo kids and their parents lived in Boldo, Alabama where Phyllis attended school and later completed her early education at Walker High School in Jasper. A childhood illness defined a great deal of Phyllis’ teen years, though as with everything, she beat the odds and proved herself to be “one tough cookie” and a very outspoken young woman as her close friends and family knew all too well. Phyllis had her first child Kesa when she was 23 and finally met her match and the two of them quickly set out to master the universe. The pair rarely took no for an answer which proved to be an interesting experience when they chose opposite sides of any issue.
Phyllis met her beloved husband of 42 years in California, a chance meeting that altered the course of their lives and defined all the good things from that moment forward. Don Lewis DeJong, a Navy man from Churchill, Montana, never knew what hit him when the Southern Belle (likely in bellbottoms) sat down, accidentally kicked him and spoke to him in her southern drawl in a way that he never was the same. The two of them married at Virginia Beach in 1980 and set out to raise their family. The couple welcomed Don Lawrence DeJong shortly thereafter. In her son Phyllis found a completion to her life and the person that brought her the most joy. D.L was the towheaded calm soul and spirit that balanced the family.
Eventually the DeJongs moved back to Alabama where Don was a manager at Wal Mart Distribution in Cullman for 37 years. Phyllis found her way back to nursing school where she completed her master’s degree, moving her way up from a floor nurse in the ER to management of many hospitals around the country. Phyllis became a travel nurse in Hawaii, Nebraska, Arizona, Montana, Georgia, and later California moving her way up in the ranks and eventually finding her true passion at a Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California where she managed an eating disorder clinic. Phyllis retired in 2016 from the Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa, California. Phyllis was able to enjoy fulfillment of a well-respected career in a beautiful place where she met friends from around the world.
Phyllis and Don were able to realize their lifelong dream of living in Orange Beach, Alabama when they retired to their dream condo community with lots of friends and family close by. Phyllis spent days fishing, swimming, exploring the Gulf, spending time with her beloved fur babies Sampson and Delilah, and enjoying a view of the ocean with Don.
While Phyllis was a lifelong Christian and very devoted to her spiritual beliefs, she had found a deeper connection with God in the last ten years of her life and spent many hours reading her Bible and sharing her affirmations with others. Phyllis will be missed by her family, friends, and former colleagues and will forever be “Queen Bee” to all those who were fortunate enough to onion her.
Phyllis is preceded in death by her parents Helen and Lawrence, her baby sister Rhonda Wilson, her beloved nephew Nathan, and numerous other grandparents and cousins all of whom undoubtedly are welcoming her to her Heavenly home. She is survived by her husband Don DeJong, her two children Kesa Johnston and Don Lawrence DeJong, her brothers Ronald (Kim) and David (Sondra), and her many nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly.
Services will be on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, at 2 p.m. at the 7th Street Baptist Church in Cullman, Alabama. Family visitation will be from noon until 1 p.m., public visitation from 1-2 p.m. followed by the funeral service at the church and graveside service at Cullman City Cemetery with Hanceville Funeral Home handling the arrangements.
