Phyllis Isabella Stanford

FALMOUTH, Mass. – Phyllis Isabella Stanford passed away at the home of her daughter in Falmouth, Mass. on Oct. 28, 2024. She was 97.

She was the grandmother of Andrew (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Gabriela (Portland), and Alex (Falmouth, Mass.) Carbone, who were at her bedside for the preceding days. Hymns were sung in harmony, and stories were told. Daughter, Connie Stanford was with her via video from her home in Prescott, Ariz. as she had been every day for many years.

Phyllis was born in Ottawa Ontario Canada to Harold and Gertrude (Ross) Alexander. When she was 4, the family moved to Montreal for her father to find work. It was the Great Depression.

Their childhood was filled with church, and music lessons, and riding the street cars to get places. She went to Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., and then returned home to Montreal to earn her RN license at Montreal General Hospital.

In 1951, Phyllis was the pianist at the Nazarene church when Roland Stanford became the new pastor. They met and were married the next year!

The ministry took them several places, with their three kids in tow. She led the choirs and accompanied him on the piano while he led the congregational singing. London, Ontario; Flushing, N.Y.; Bath; Toronto, Ontario; Cape Elizabeth, etc. She also worked in hospitals wherever they went, and for the local pediatrician in Bath.

After Roland’s retirement from the ministry, they stayed in southern Maine. She was a “coder” at Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital in Portland, which she thoroughly enjoyed! The family still mourns the loss of their son, Geoff to cancer in 2002.

In 2014 they moved to Falmouth, Mass. to be near her daughter and her family. Roland passed away in 2016.

In her later years, she came out of her shell, surprising all with hilarious word play and ironic satire, stopping at tables on her way out of restaurants to say hello, and singing hymns all day long. “Jesus loves even me”, “Oh Lord, I have no friend like you”. “This world is not my home” . She would mention Jesus to anyone, inspiring even those who had never heard such things. People said that this affected their lives.

A home wake was held at Lianne’s home the night of her passing. On Nov. 15, there will be a burial at 11 a.m. at Riverside Cemetery, and a service at 1 p.m. at the Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene (where they pastored for years) with family friend, Pastor Jim Ennis officiating.