Obituary
Funeral services for Terry Pharis, 63, of Portales, will be held at 2:00 PM, Wed., Dec. 18, 2019 in the Wheeler Mortuary Chapel with Pastor Don Hay officiating. Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Roy Edwards, Matt Davis, Roger Sink, Jonathan Gilcrest, Sherman Kent and Josh Kent serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Clyde Johnson, Jack Davis, John Kenmore and Tommy Knight.
Terry Dianne Pharis was born Feb. 6, 1956 in Bakersfield, CA to the home of Pauline Fredricka (Housey) and Arnold L. Simpson, and died at her home in Portales on Dec. 15, 2019. When she was only 3 weeks old, her family moved to Roswell. Due to her mother’s ill health, she moved to Clovis to live with her older sisters when she was still in grade school. She later returned to Roswell, where she graduated from Roswell High School in 1974. A few days after graduation, on May 30, 1974 in Dexter, NM, she was married to Mike E. Pharis. Due to her husband’s work, they lived in a number of locations in NM, TX and OK before moving to Portales in 2001.
In 1975 she began working for Allsup’s convenience stores. She worked as a floater, going to various stores as manager. Finally, she became the manager of the store in Muleshoe where she worked for several years. She was employed with the company until 1994 for a total of 19 years.
Mrs. Pharis often fixed computers for others. For enjoyment she crocheted. She was a devoted mother and grandmother, and loved spending time with her family. Terry was an avid reader, and her favorite reading material was her Bible.
She is survived by Mike E. Pharis, her husband of 45 years; a son and daughter-in-law, Mike J. and Melissa Pharis of Portales; a daughter, Lisa Marie O’Neal of Portales; four grandchildren, Lane O’Neal, Layton Pharis, Raegan Whitacre and Kynadee Whitacre; and two sisters, Sandra Starritt of Clovis, NM and Janice Hargrove of Roswell, NM. She was preceded in death by her parents and three sisters, Charlotte Price, Dorothy Rosser and Arlene Hilliard.
