Phyllis Jean Blosser Draheim

September 25, 1936 – June 2, 2026

Phyllis Jean Blosser Draheim — musician, teacher, collector of pigs, lover of chocolate and Dr. Pepper, and a woman who lived life at 78 RPM — passed away on June 2, 2026, near her daughter’s home in Liberty Hill, Texas. She was 89 years old. Those who knew her will remember a vibrant, kind soul with a heart for her Lord, who moved through life with joyful energy and left music ringing in every room she entered.

Phyllis was born on September 25, 1936, to John Oliver and Grace Virginia Blosser, at the family home on Catherine Street in Monroe City, Missouri. From her earliest years, she was drawn to music. At the age of five, she began playing piano for Sunday School at the Monroe City Christian Church — the first notes of a musical ministry that would span eight remarkable decades.

Growing up in Monroe City, Phyllis also developed a keen eye for detail, helping her father proofread copy as he set linotype for the Monroe City News. She graduated as salutatorian from Monroe City High School in 1954, and that same year married John David McElroy. The marriage brought her greatest joy — her daughter, Lila Kathleen.

Life eventually carried Phyllis to Kansas City, Missouri, where she worked in the personnel department at United Missouri Bank. It was through her Aunt Marie Tipton Hardee, who worked alongside Bud at Jaccard Jewelry in Kansas City, that Phyllis was introduced to John Louis Draheim, Jr. — known to family and friends simply as Bud — and the two were married on June 26, 1965. Their life together was full of adventure. They worked together for Zale Corporation as Bud managed jewelry stores across Ohio and Texas. During their years in Austin, they took to the open road in a motor home, traveling five states to sell jewelry to local stores. Bud also shared his love of speed with Phyllis — a passion her father had first kindled by teaching her race driving techniques — and the two golfed together for nearly the whole of their married life. Bud even coaxed the water-wary Phyllis into the pool, teaching her to swim.

The couple settled in Georgetown, Texas, around 1977, and it was there that Phyllis found her truest calling. For more than forty years, Faith Lutheran Church was her church home, and the depth of her service there was extraordinary. Nearly from the time she and Bud joined the congregation, she also served as church secretary. She served as Adult Choir Director, Children’s Choir Director, and Praise Ensemble Director. She played organ and piano on an almost weekly basis for Sunday services, and provided music for Vacation Bible School, Christmas plays, midweek services, Lutheran Women’s Missionary League services, and the Footsteps of Faith program. She also played for an untold number of weddings, funerals, and special occasions — each one a gift of herself to others in their most meaningful moments. In her later years, Phyllis extended her musical ministry to Leander Presbyterian Church, where she regularly played piano for the prelude while her daughter Lila played flute beside her — a quiet and joyful expression of the faith and love they shared.

In 2007, Faith Lutheran celebrated more than 25 years of Phyllis’s music ministry with a tribute that spoke to the magnitude of her impact: a choir anthem was commissioned from renowned composer Joseph Martin, entitled “Such Is the Way of God’s Love.” It was a fitting honor for a woman whose life was itself a song of devotion — fresh as the morning, warm as moonglow, and full of grace.

Beyond the church, Phyllis taught private piano and voice lessons for many years, shaping the musical lives of countless students. After Bud’s retirement, she worked for Advance Cable Services, and later joined the staff of Faith Lutheran Church, bringing her gifts into every aspect of its life. Whether at the organ bench or the piano, in the choir loft or the classroom, she gave herself fully and generously.

Phyllis had a gift for joy in the small things. She adored chocolate in any form, kept a steady supply of Dr. Pepper close at hand, and had a particular weakness for shrimp. Her love of fast cars never faded. And then there were the pigs. What began with a single figurine given by a friend blossomed — once word got out how much she delighted in them — into a collection that eventually surpassed one thousand items of every imaginable variety. It was the kind of collection that could only belong to someone who embraced life’s whimsy with her whole heart.

When COVID shut down the daily operations of Faith Lutheran Church in 2020, Phyllis moved to Liberty Hill to live with her daughter Lila and son-in-law Joel, spending her final years surrounded by family and love.

Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, John Oliver and Grace Virginia Blosser; her stepmother, Alice Boggs; and her beloved husband, John Louis “Bud” Draheim, Jr., who passed away on September 27, 2017.

She is survived by her daughter, Lila M. Aud, and son-in-law Joel Aud, of Liberty Hill, Texas; her granddaughter, Suellen Marie Harn Pollard, and husband Justin; her great-granddaughters, Madeliene and Katelyn Pollard; her stepson, John Louis Draheim III, and his daughters Shawn (Johann Carl Hoeston Morgan) and Leigh-Ann (Levi Camden Draheim and Juniper Rue Draheim Kilby); her stepdaughter, Mary Ann Draheim, and her children Robert McLaurin Martinez, Georgina Martinez, and Marcel Martinez; and her stepsisters, Joan Rafter and Karen Hunt, daughters of her stepmother Alice.

Those who wish to honor Phyllis’s memory are encouraged to seek out and listen to “Such Is the Way of God’s Love” by Joseph Martin — a piece written especially for her, and a testament to a life lived in joyful service to God and to others.

Memorials may be made to the Music Ministry of Faith Lutheran Church, Georgetown, Texas, or to the Music Ministry of Leander Presbyterian Church, Leander, Texas.

Services

Visitation: Saturday, June 20, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.

Witness to the Resurrection: 11:00 a.m.

Luncheon: 12:00 p.m.

Faith Lutheran Church, Georgetown, Texas

Inurnment: 2:00 p.m.

IOOF Cemetery, Georgetown, Texas