Phyllis Bilhuber's Obituary
Born in Hartford, CT on December 20, 1927, Phyllis was valedictorian in her high school class, graduated from Pembroke College at Brown University with a BS in 1949 and was a senior sales representative in BOAC airlines in New York City and Connecticut for 20 years. She was #2 in sales with BOAC and her major clients were Broadway theater producers who took their shows to London, as well as major corporations, such as IBM. Because of her distinguished sales career she was the first woman offered a district sales manager position in any U.S. airline. She personally greeted the Beatles as they stepped down from the aircraft at JFK on their first visit to America. She was also a guest member of the Mount Kenya Safari Club near Nairobi.
A lifelong lover of the stage, she acted in high school and college shows, did summer stock and off-Broadway, taught dancing in New York, auditioned for the Rockettes, and did TV commercials and TV shows as a contestant.
Phyllis was a leading star in many local Broadway productions in Maryland and Florida. She was known for her singing, tap and jazz performances with the Go-Getters and the South County Show Stoppers who perform at assisted living and senior centers. Phyllis was Ms. Senior Maryland in 2001 and performed on a huge stage in Las Vegas at the National Ms. Senior America competition. She sang and danced to “Cabaret.”
An accomplished athlete since childhood, Phyllis was the women’s singles tennis champion in Anne Arundel County for seven years. She was also captain of a women’s doubles team and went to the Eastern Nationals tournament in Virginia. She also won two gold medals and one silver medal at the Maryland Senior Olympics. She was a good skier, golfer, sailor, and platform diver.She was an experienced investor and she designed and built the beautiful waterfront home in Southaven where she lived with her husband Ernie for 35 years.
Phyllis was known internationally in the travel industry and their honeymoon in Hong Kong started a wonderful world of travel for many years, thanks to BOAC. She leaves the world with warm, lasting memories.
What’s your fondest memory of Phyllis?
What’s a lesson you learned from Phyllis?
Share a story where Phyllis' kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Phyllis you’ll never forget.
How did Phyllis make you smile?