Phyllis Holsworth Derrick

Phyllis Holsworth Derrick passed from this life peacefully in Waco, Texas, on October 1, 2020. She was the daughter of Mason Standish Holsworth “Jack” and Ethel Sirmon Holsworth, and was born February 23, 1934, in Bay City, Texas, the third of their four children. Phyllis Helen grew up on the family farm and ranch in Collegeport, Texas, and attended elementary school there and middle and secondary school in Palacios, Texas, where she graduated from Palacios High School. After attending Southern Methodist University and Baylor University, she married John Patrick Richman on October 11, 1953. In August 1955, Pat succumbed to polio. Phyllis and their 10-month-old daughter lived with her parents until she married Jesse Allen Derrick in 1959. They made their home in Waco, where their three children were born. Jesse and Phyllis were loving parents and also found time to give to others and to their community. Jesse’s untimely death in 1983 was a loss not only to Phyllis and the family, but to many with whom he had worked and served. Phyllis had a life-long love of music and was a gifted pianist. She enjoyed playing classical music and hymns on her beloved grand piano. Long after her children were grown, she pursued that passion with intensity, taking lessons from Krassimira Jordan, a Professor of Piano and Artist In Residence at Baylor. Phyllis traveled with Professor Jordan and students from the Baylor school of music to Vienna and Prague two summers to immerse deeply into lessons and lengthy practice sessions. For decades, Phyllis also attended the Waco Symphony, making great efforts to do so in the later years of her life. Phyllis loved her yard and garden. She spent many of her days for most of her life planting, fertilizing, nurturing and trimming a large variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers. She enjoyed physically laboring, including digging beds, by herself, that were several feet deep so that her azaleas would thrive. Undaunted as her age increased, she alarmed her neighbors, when, in her late 70’s, she climbed a ladder and went out on her roof to trim tree branches. She was a talented cook as well and enjoyed trying new recipes and techniques and sharing her wonderful meals, breads and desserts with family and friends. As her children were growing up, the family was treated to a true three- or four-course dinner each evening. It was not uncommon for the neighborhood kids to find their way to the Derrick house for dinner to eat her famous “Mashed Potatoes with Creamed Gravy and Fried Chicken.” Phyllis and Jesse were active members of Lake Shore Baptist Church for many years. Phyllis later became a faithful member of the First Baptist Church of Waco. She loved all of the members of her Sunday School classes there and attended until her health no longer permitted. While she lived at St. Elizabeth’s for seven years, you would find Phyllis attending worship services Sunday mornings at the Providence Park chapel and in a Bible study group during the week. Phyllis loved her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were a source of joy throughout her life, and she greatly enriched theirs. She had a soft place in her heart for animals and loved her Golden Retrievers, Muffin and Winston. They adored and protected her. Phyllis’s strength, endurance and resilience in the face of serious and numerous health challenges for more than two decades was remarkable. She faced those challenges quietly and now rests in God’s peace. She was preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Ethel; her husband, Pat; her husband, Jesse; granddaughter, Elizabeth Claire Lacy; and her brother, Thomas Holsworth. She is survived by her siblings, Margaret Ann Hodge and Mason Holsworth; her children, Priscilla Richman Owen, Dianne Derrick Hirsch, Nancy Derrick Lacy and her husband, David, and John Derrick and his wife, Ellen; grandchildren, Florence Carter Lacy, Jesse Gaston and his wife, Jennifer, Mark Chernoff, and Cory Hirsch and his wife, Katherine; three great-grandchildren, Zoey Chernoff, Molly Gaston, and Mason Gaston; and many nieces, nephews and their children. She was very proud of her entire family. The family is thankful for the loving care Phyllis received from Latisha Knight, the staff of St. Elizabeth’s, and, for the last several weeks of her life, the excellent, tender care she received from Uni Murphy and the staff at Lake Ridge Healthy Living. A graveside service will be held at Hawley Cemetery in Matagorda County, Texas, on Monday, October 5, at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts may be made to the First Baptist Church of Waco Missions, Talitha Koum Institute or the Salvation Army of Waco. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.