Phyllis Hodges Hawman, 83, passed away peacefully at home in Silver City, New Mexico, on August 10, 2020. Phyllis was born in Dustin, Oklahoma, on May 26, 1937, and was raised in Santa Rita, New Mexico. She completed high school in Ray, Arizona, and worked briefly for United Airlines as a booking agent.

Phyllis met Rodney Hawman when she was a sophomore in high school. They were married on December 1, 1956, and together they raised four boys and lived a very active lifestyle. Phyllis used to say, “The reason I don’t have a girl is because I didn’t want five boys.”

Phyllis loved art, and in her 20s, she began drawing and teaching herself to paint. She blossomed into a skilled painter, preferring oil media and also working in acrylic, pastel, and watercolor. Old West themes were her favorite subject matter. She opened an art studio—The Purple Palette—in Silver City in 1975, where she discovered her talents as an art teacher. She taught art at Western New Mexico University Community College and showed her work in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque. She won numerous awards, including “Best of Show.” In 1980, she and Rod built a home in Silver City and relocated her studio to their home, where Phyllis displayed other local artists’ work and continued to teach many long-term students. Over the years, Phyllis and her students developed a strong bond and looked forward to each class, where they painted together and shared stories of their lives. She continued to teach art classes until early 2019. Phyllis was a founding member of the Grant County Art Guild. 

Besides art, Phyllis loved the color purple, coffee, video poker, reading, decorating her home with family photos and her own art, family dogs, family camping trips and gatherings, her grandchildren, and road trips in their 1990 Pace Arrow motorhome.

Phyllis will be greatly missed by her husband and best friend of 65 years, Rod Hawman, of Silver City; a sister, Jessie Bowman (George); four sons: Tim (Tamara Hallman), Charles (Vicky Lowe), Lansing (Melissa Longoria), and Forrest (Annette Rudd); eight grandchildren: Danny (Amber Johnson), Mindi (Ricky Gunderson), Ashley (Tiffiny Schwartz), Deanna (Josh) Shurtleff, Cody (Teresa Hood), Breann, Roman, and Grayson; and six great grandchildren: Alora, Taleah, Braden, and Liana Hawman; Aella Gunderson; and Maverick Hawman. Phyllis is predeceased by her parents, Lola Julia “Nonnie” McMahon and Charles Vaughn Hodges; and a sister, Yvonne Lola “Muffet” Bridges.

No services are planned at this time. A celebration of Phyllis’s life will be scheduled in the future. Cremation will take place at Terrazas Crematory.  Arrangements are with Terrazas Funeral Chapels and Crematory “Trusted care for the ones you love” ~ 575-537-0777.  To send condolences, visit www.terrazasfuneralchapel.com.