Phyllis Risdon

Phyllis was born in Ann Arbor to parents Al & Lorinda Jedele and lived her first 7 years in Lodi Township, where her ancestors migrated to from Germany. Along with her brother and sister, she enjoyed riding her bike and the family's pony. Phyllis attended Saline Community Schools through 1st grade.

The family moved to a 110 acre farm (part of which is now the home of the Signature Oaks horse farm and part her brother's raspberry farm) near North Lake in Dexter Township and Phyllis attended Chelsea Schools from which she graduated. Soon after moving to the farm, a local dairy farmer gifted a calf to her because he thought she was cute and needed a calf. That calf went on to produce several offspring which helped pay college expenses.

Around the age of 9 or 10, Phyllis was taught to drive the farm tractors and the stick-shift pickup truck. She soon became an essential tractor driver during hay season, raking and baling hay every summer until her father retired from the University of Michigan and her children came along.

Growing up on a working farm with horses, ponies, sheep, beef cattle, and the family dog taught Phyllis a work ethic like none other. Phyllis belonged to 4-H clubs and, as a member of those clubs, she gained leadership experience and learned how to run meetings using Robert's Rules of Order.

Education, Work Experience & Family

Upon graduating cum laude from Chelsea High School Phyllis attended Ferris State College (now University). Summer jobs, in addition to helping on the farm, were at Gelman Sciences in Ann Arbor.

Phyllis played cornet in band during her years in Chelsea Schools and trumpet while continuing her education at Ferris State College. She participated in concert, marching, stage bands, and in the college/community orchestra for performances of “Handel's Messiah” while at Ferris. Majoring in Industrial Chemistry Technology Phyllis received her Associates in Applied Science degree from Ferris. She also was a member of the College American Chemical Society. Upon earning her degree in Industrial Chemistry Technology, Phyllis' first job out of college was with Velsicol Chemical Company (formerly called Michigan Chemical Corporation) in Ann Arbor. She performed quality control chemical tests on the company's products. Seeking a more challenging position, she answered an ad for a chemical technician at Climax Molybdenum Company research lab (also in Ann Arbor). She landed the job partly because the application (the same used at the Climax Molybdenum mine in Climax, Colorado) included a section to list any heavy equipment that the applicant was capable of operating. Not having been told not to fill out that portion, Phylis included that she drove farm tractors and performed other farm chores. When choosing Phyllis as the lab technician for the solid lubricant and corrosion inhibition labs, the hiring team figured this woman, because of her farm work experience, would not be afraid to get herhands dirty while working with molybdenum disulfide (the naturally occurring substance from which molybdenum is derived) which is a messy black powder. It was a momentous hiring decision, not only did she keep meticulous lab notebooks of her research testing (which aided in the development of published papers and patents) but Phyllis also met her future husband, Tom Risdon, who was a renowned expert in the field of solid lubrication and a research scientist at the Ann Arbor lab.

Phyllis and Tom were married in May of 1979. (Sadly, Tom died in 2013 after a long but brave battle with cancer). Upon the birth of their first child, son Daniel, in June 1980 Phyllis became a stay-at- home Mom. Daughter Lori, was born in 1986. Phyllis never regretted the years spent as a stay-at-home mom and wish more parents today could experience the same. During those years Phyllis continued to serve her community through church and school activities.

Because her family means the world to her, Phyllis, in order to be on the same schedule as her children in school, put aside her chemical lab tech career and began working for Dexter Community Schools as a substitute para-educator. She became a permanent part-time para at Mill Creek Middle School in 1998. In 2000 she accepted a position with the Dexter Schools Technology Department working full time at Dexter High School for five years. She then became the tech support specialist at Mill Creek MS and Phyllis continued focusing on providing, what the sign she had posted in her office, “fanatical customer support” to staff, students, and even parents when called upon. She still used the research and development skills learned both in college and at her chem tech jobs, and very much enjoyed helping both the students and staff with technology issues, learning and incorporating new software (MacSchool, Power School, NWEA student testing, Google products, etc.) in addition to managing several computer labs (both static and portable). After retiring in 2011 Phyllis has strived to stay semi-up-to-date with technology.

Having a strong desire to serve others, Phyllis was very active volunteering in classrooms at her childrens' schools, chaperoning classroom and band trips, serving on the Dexter Band Boosters Board for 12 years (two of which as President). She was one of the founders of the Dexter Community Band, in which she played her trumpet. She also was a member of the Ann Arbor Civic Band for several summers. In addition to helping plan and organize two European tours by the Dexter Community Band, she also organized the “Dexter Community Band Christmas Brass” group which performed several years on the annual “Lucy Ann Lance Hometown Christmas” radio show.

Phyllis currently enjoys visiting her children and seeing the world.

Her son Dan currently works for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He graduated from Dexter High School in 1998 and then from Kettering University with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. Daughter-in-law Sara is a stay-at-home Mom and part-time educator. Grandson Ethan, now a 6th grader, learned how to ski this past winter and he enjoys working with his dad on home projects and building model trains. The family enjoys hiking and taking in the beautiful scenery of northern New Mexico.

Daughter Lori graduated from Dexter High School in 2004. Upon graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 2008 with a B.S. in Political Science, she attended military Intelligence School. She attended the American Military University and the Army Commad and General Staff College, earning masters degrees from both. Currently, Lt. Col. Risdon is Commander of the 381st Intelligence Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. She enjoys horseback riding, skiing, and running half-marathons.