PHYLLIS HANES PASSED AWAY ON MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014 AT MASS. GENERAL HOSPITAL AFTER A BRIEF ILLNESS. PHYLLIS GRADUATED FROM KENNEBUNK HIGH SCHOOL IN MAINE AND WON A SCHOLARSHIP TO THE NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC IN BOSTON WHERE SHE STUDIED PIANO AND CELLO. ALWAYS INTERESTED IN THE CULINARY ARTS, SHE BEGAN HER EARLY CAREER IN BROADCASTING WITH DAILY RADIO PROGRAMS ABOUT NUTRITION AND COOKING WHICH INCLUDED A PUBLIC SERVICE PROGRAM DURING THE 1940’S. IN 1942, SHE MARRIED FELLOW BROADCASTER, ROBERT CODMAN HANES, AND RESIDED IN BOSTON’S WEST END WITH THEIR SON ROBERT CODMAN, JR. IN 1955, SHE JOINED THE BOSTON HERALD TRAVELER AS FASHION EDITOR FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS. AFTER LEAVING THE HERALD, PHYLLIS JOINED THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR WHERE SHE WAS EDITOR AND WRITER FOR 25 YEARS. HER WEEKLY COLUMN GAVE MONITOR READERS IN 144 COUNTRIES A WINDOW TO THE WORLD’S MANY CULTURES AND CUISINES. SHE TRAVELED WORLDWIDE TO REPORT ON FOOD, COVERING SPICE MARKETS IN MARRAKECH, EXPLORING PRODUCE MARKETS IN HELSINKI AND BEIJING, AND SEARCHING OUT CULINARY TRENDS IN PARIS AND ROME. PHYLLIS WAS RECOGNIZED IN THE PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY AS A WIDELY EXPERIENCED FOOD WRITER AND CRITIC WHOSE ARTICLES ALWAYS GAVE A SENSE OF AUTHENTICITY AND INSIGHT TO THE PLEASURES OF GOOD EATING.
IN 1994 SHE RETIRED AND WAS HONORED BY BOSTON’S FOOD COMMUNITY AT AN EVENT CHAIRED BY JULIA CHILD. SHE RECEIVED PROCLAMATIONS FROM PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND GOV. BILL WELD AND WAS MADE A DISTINGUISHED VISITING PROFESSOR OF GASTRONOMY BY JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY. IT WAS AT THAT TIME THAT A SCHOLARSHIP WAS ESTABLISHED IN HER NAME AS WELL.
PHYLLIS CONTINUED TO DO FREE LANCE WRITING AFTER HER RETIREMENT AND PURSUED HER MANY INTERESTS INCLUDING GARDENING. SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE MASS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, THE FENWAY GARDEN SOCIETY, THE AMERICAN GARDEN WRITERS AND WAS A CERTIFIED MASTER GARDENER.
PHYLLIS WAS ACTIVE INTO HER NINETIES AND HAD BEEN LIVING IN THE WEST END. WHILE THERE, SHE HOSTED MANY CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE IN ORDER TO INTRODUCE THEM TO AREA RESIDENTS. ON AUGUST 22ND, PHYLLIS WOULD HAVE BEEN 93 YEARS OLD.
PHYLLIS WAS THE LOVING MOTHER OF ROBERT C. HANES, JR. AND HIS WIFE, BONNIE. SHE IS ALSO SURVIVED BY HER LOVING GRANDDAUGHTERS, MELISSA KATE HANES OF JAMAICA PLAIN AND VICTORIA JOYCE HANES OF WEST ROXBURY.
SERVICES WILL BE PRIVATE AND INTERMENT WILL TAKE PLACE AT EVERGREEN CEMETERY IN KENNEBUNK, MAINE. A MEMORIAL CELEBRATING PHYLLIS’S LIFE IS BEING PLANNED AND THE DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED.
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, DONATIONS IN MEMORY OF PHYLLIS HANES MAY BE MADE TO JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY.