Martha Grace (Frysinger) Phillips, loving wife of seventy years to Victor Duzerah Phillips, Jr., devoted mother to Vic, Minta, and Stone, and Pillar of Parkway teacher died peacefully September 8, 2017, in Greensboro, NC. She is remembered by family and friends for her unbounded optimism, irrepressible good humor and innate gratitude for the gift of life. A native Texan, Grace exuded warmth, friendliness and a directness of expression that delighted and endeared her to friends and strangers alike. Unfettered by any trace of social anxiety, Grace spoke freely and from the heart. She looked for the best in others and readily voiced a compliment. Grace was interested in, and celebrated, people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. She lived the Golden Rule, believed in discipline, balance and the benefits of "whistling while you work." As a mother and educator, she turned work into play, chores into games, lessons into the joy of learning. Grace counted her blessings, savoring life's pleasures simple and grand, whether swigging NuGrape at her go-to car hop drive-in or sipping tea at the White House with Eleanor Roosevelt and beloved aunt, Grace Frysinger, a friend of the First Lady. Grace was a stickler for grammar and good manners, though not above jokingly gnawing a turkey leg at the dinner table pretending to be Robin Hood. Fun, fearless and adventurous, Grace lived each chapter of her life by her mother's credo, "Bloom where you're planted." Even when uprooted at age eighty-eight to be relocated with Victor near their physician daughter, Grace "got with the program," embracing uncertainty with a cheerful "Out with the old! In with the new!" Born in Dallas on December 3, 1922, to George Patrick and Minta Elizabeth Frysinger, Grace grew up first of three children. Childhood years filled with music, she became an accomplished pianist and accordionist trained by her mother. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas and from North Texas State University in Denton. A home economics major, she frequently proclaimed that most fun in life is interrupted by having to cook. Grace met her husband-to-be on a blind date. A case of opposites attract, she and Victor fell in love. They jitterbugged. Grace's outgoing nature and ear for rhythm swayed Victor from his farm boy shyness. Upon his return from World War II, they were married June 5, 1945, at St. Paul's Cathedral in Dallas. He wore a body cast from a shrapnel wound in the Battle of the Bulge that left his right arm paralyzed for life. Grace chose a colorful flowered dress in keeping with her affinity for "all things bright and beautiful." As a young housewife raising three children in Texas City, Texas, Grace gave unconditional love without "mother smother." She encouraged exploration, experimentation, and independence. As elementary school students, Vic, Minta, and Stone could eat with classmates in the cafeteria but often pedaled home for lunch and a midday dose of amazing Grace. In her mid-forties, following a family move to Ballwin, Missouri, Grace transitioned from stay-at-home mom to teacher, extending a maternal line of educators that included her beloved grandmother, Aline Mendenhall, whose name still graces a primary school in Plano, Texas. Earning a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Webster College, Grace began a 23-year career as a Parkway School District teacher known for instilling in thousands of kindergarteners the power of positive thinking and joy of learning. A 1982 Pillar of Parkway Award recognized her exceptional teaching. Grace's husband once quipped, "When it comes to early child development everybody's an 'expert,' but Grace truly is." Colleagues remarked that Grace's playfulness and curiosity magnetized young students and, in the best sense, invoked the child in everyone. Grace's teaching practice was a daily demonstration of the art of blending order with freedom. For her, fear of failure and dwelling on achievement stifled education. She believed that embracing risks and valuable trial-and-error lessons are the stepping stones to mastery and the key to a child's self-esteem. Diagnosed with late-onset Alzheimer's disease in 2012, Grace spent the last years of her life in the grip of dementia. But even as impairment advanced and connection to friends and family declined, Grace never lost her positive spirit and sense of gratitude. "Thank you," "You're precious," and "I love you to pieces," she expressed to the end. C.G. Jung believed those most afraid to live are most afraid to die. Grace was never afraid of dying.