Phyllis Irene Laurin

Phyllis Irene (Whitcomb) Laurin, age 94, died peacefully at home on Sunday June 28, 2026 with her children by her side, along with her faithful dog Cookie and cat Andy. She was born on November 19, 19312 in Springfield, Vermont to Wesley and Olive (Douglas) Whitcomb.

Phyllis lived a remarkable life. After growing up the the tiny, quiet town of Chester Vermont, she attended Colby College in Maine. After graduating from Colby in 1953, she moved to Boston.

After she and a college friend visited Europe, they decided to apply to work for the US State Department. When offered a choice of three overseas postings, she chose Teheran, Iran. Already in Teheran when Phyllis arrived was an ambitious young chartered accountant, David Laurin, who was working for Arthur Anderson auditing oil companies. Dave had a friend in the embassy whose duties included reviewing all the new visa holders arriving in Teheran. Upon seeing Phyllis' picture, Dave wanted to know more about her, and he took the opportunity to make her acquaintance at the next Embassy mixer.

In October 1958, the two were married. Phyllis and David moved from Teheran to Bogota, Columbia. In August 1960 Phyllis gave birth to her daughter, Beth. Dave was next sent to Caracas, Venezuela--where Phyllis bore her second child, David Douglas Laurin (known as "Doug") in January 1962. Phyllis and Dave moved their young family to Muskegon, where he had grown up. Despite knowing no one when she arrived, Phyllis quickly made many new friends who welcomed her into their circles and she was soon a typical young mother juggling children and engagements with various causes and charities--just like hew new Muskegon friends--while Dave worked for Westran Steel. They built a new home on Moulton Avenue. Westran closed and Dave found a new position at Shaw~Walker. In 1970, baby Phillip (known around North Muskegon as "PJ") joined the family.

Phyllis and Dave maintained their sense of adventure with travel around the world, which often took them to exotic locales such as Agra, Prague, Nairobi, Hong Kong, South Africa, Easter Island, Russia, China, Australia, Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands.

Phyllis and Dave complemented their wide-ranging travels with an active social life in Muskegon. Along with many cocktail and dinner parties at friends' homes, their calendar included annual events at the Farmers, the Tebeaus, the Clovers, Muskegon Country Club, White Lake Yacht Club. Phyllis was a voracious reader and she advocated for reading by supporting the library and teaching reading at elementary schools and the First Congregational Church. Her other interests included Service League, Questors, Friends of Art, Garden Club and Book Club. As she got older, with her grown children now in Chicago and Los Angeles, Phyllis immersed herself in this work and she developed many long and deep friendships. As friends passed, she continued on with the support of her dear neighbors Jeanne Keene and Linda Kersman and others. Phyllis could be seen along Ruddiman walking her dog Cookie several times a day up until just this Spring.

She is survived by her children Beth Laurin, David "Doug" Laurin, Phillip "PJ" Laurin and two grandchildren. Phyllis was preceded in death by her Husband in 1998, and by her four siblings: Paula Thornton, Priscilla Walker and two infant brothers.

Please honor Phyllis by living life to the fullest. Enjoy her bench in front of the new bathhouse at the State Park beach and live the phrase she inscribed on her bench: "Seize the day!"

MEMORIAL SERVICE

Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at 11:00 AM at First Congregational Church UCC, 1201 Jefferson Street, Muskegon, MI 49441 with visitation one hour prior to the service at the church. Please visit www.clockfuneralhome.com to share a memory or sign the online guestbook.