Obituary of Phyllis Elaine Schreiber

During the evening of April 21, Phyllis Elaine Schreiber (née Timmins,) 97, left this world to rejoin her husband and daughter and many friends and loved ones. A kind and very gracious lady, she was known as Elaine throughout most of her life, but because Government documents listed her full name, she one day decided that she would now be Phyllis. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Mary Pauline and Albert Timmins, and she never lost her Brooklyn accent. Her teen years were spent during the Second World War, and she would always tell stories of saving her sugar rations to make her favorite chocolate fudge, and later she was always making fudge for her children and their friends. After graduating from New Utrecht High School, she went to business school. It was while she was working as a secretary at The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn that she met her future husband Fred Schreiber. Fred was pledging a fraternity and couldn't speak for a day. He had to write down everything, and Elaine thought it was really funny, so she played along. They were later married at the Brethren Church in Glendale, Queens, New York, a German community where Fred had been raised. After moving to Long Island, New York, they moved to Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, where she was a homemaker and raised two children. With her children grown and being bored, she decided to re-enter the work force, and worked at a card shop in Plymouth Meeting, saying it was like her favorite game as a child, playing "Store." She later moved to Shannondell at Valley Forge. She was predeceased by her husband Charles Frederick Schreiber and daughter Christine (Chrissy) Schreiber, and is survived by her son Stephen Frederick and his husband William Russell Koerwer. A graveside service will be held on April 30 at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church, Camp Hill Road and Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington, at 10:30 am with a luncheon following. In lieu of flowers, donations in Elaine's memory may be made to St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 211 Mulberry Street, Lewes, Delaware 19958.