Phyllis Ann Nemhauser

Phyllis Nemhauser died peacefully at her beloved home in Bradford, Vermont on the morning of Thursday July 22nd, 2021.
Phyllis was born to Vivian and Dr. Gustave Nemhauser in New York City on January 4th, 1951. Vivian was a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) and was one of the first 99 female pilots to serve in the military during World War II. Gustave was a General Practitioner. Phyllis was always so proud of both of her parents impressive accomplishments. She spent her childhood in Manhattan on 10th St. and attended Friends Seminary with her Older brother Glenn and younger sister Jane. After high school she earned her bachelors degree from Friends World College. Phyllis’ love and curiosity for life was sparked early on and is something she naturally inspired in those around her.  She would often talk of how her upstairs neighbor Michelle Cooper, who would become one of her greatest lifelong friends, introduced her to Camus. This helped spark her love of reading (with a critical eye) evidenced by her always overflowing bookshelves. On the busy streets of New York City, a young Phyllis began to explore the many passions she would make her own such as travel, music, drawing, writing, reading, photography, food, honest intellectual conversations and deep friendships.
In the early 70’s just out of college Phyllis opened her first business; a health food store near the Joffrey Ballet called Down to Earth. People would come from all over New York City to get the first glimpse of Phyllis’ work as a ground breaking entrepreneur who was way ahead of her time. A memory from that time she treasured was the quiet after the storm when she would listen to Jimmy Cliff and get the store just perfect for the start of the next day. She later opened a bar and restaurant on W. 12th St. Before moving on to her next big adventure.
After the death of her father Phyllis moved to Newbury, VT with her first husband. Her mother soon followed them to the countryside which Phyllis had fallen so in love with.  Phyllis started Paradise Cafe, in the Richardson building on Main St. in Bradford, VT; seating guests in the old bank vault, playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and bringing unforgettable culinary delights to the small town and community that she saw bursting with potential. It was here that she met her second husband, with whom she had three children: Karina, Emilie and James.
Phyllis then opened Bread and Chocolate a block further along Main Street in Bradford, she started a catering business with two close friends and later she filled the Mill Building with her third restaurant, Figaro’s. Figaro’s was elegant, fun and daring. There Phyllis would serve delicious skillfully created dinners and host music from jazz to rap and everything in between. She loved it when local children would come in to play her baby grand piano and it’s where her own children were able to first observe the magic that she created.
Phyllis’ children would find that their mother’s creativity and out of the box thinking was in no way limited to the walls of her restaurants. She would take them traveling often to New York City, San Fransico, France to visit her beloved cousins Cynthia and Francois, Spain and a particularly notable trip where she brought a 16 year old James to London and Amsterdam. Her friends who were musicians and artists from around the world would fill the house regularly for parties and Phyllis would instill in her children the love and curiosity the she embodied. She challenged them to think critically and to find out who they were and who they wanted to be. She gave to them her unyielding work ethic and insisted that they never give up on or limit their most wild of dreams. She was fierce, courageous and loving not only to her own children but to the many others who she adopted as her own. Her daughter Emilie found herself often surrounded by peers who loved Phyllis as their own mother and who credited her with having a huge impact on their lives. Phyllis was remarkable in all the things she did but as a mother there are truly no words that would do her justice.
Phyllis went on to get her Master’s Degree at Dartmouth and applied her creativity to screenwriting and film-making. She became the Director of the Music Department at
Dartmouth College and later moved on to work at the campus libraries. During her time at Dartmouth she took many students under her wing and at the time of her death letters from them began pouring in. The students described how Phyllis helped them to feel at home, how she inspired them and how fortunate they felt to have known her.
Right up through the last weeks of her life, Phyllis was planning ways to improve herself and her community. She continued to dream of traveling and wanted to write a novel, she continued to work at learning Chinese and wanted to offer drawing classes in her kitchen. She dreamed of starting a community college on Main St. and of bringing in art and music classes. She pushed any young person who walked through her door to take on the challenge of revitalizing the town and told them it was their time to breathe fresh air into that dream.
Phyllis was predeceased by her parents, her sister Jane, and her daughter Karina; she is survived by her brother Glenn, her daughter Emilie, her son James and his partner Kristin, her grandchildren Mason, Josh, Elliot and Alex Rheaume.
Phyllis takes with her a vast world of creativity and romance and generosity and wit and  brilliance; she leaves behind a world of friends and loved ones here in her own community and all around the world.
Please join family and friends to celebrate the life of Phyllis on Saturday September 25, 2021. A service will be held from 3-5pm in the Bradford Academy Auditorium followed by appetizers and refreshments from 5-8 at Phyllis home in Bradford.
Hale Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the care of Phyllis.
Contributions in honor of Phyllis may be made to:
Vermont Arts Council: https://www.vermontartscouncil.org/get-involved/giving
Arbor Day Foundation: Arbor Day | Vermont Urban and Community Forestry (vtcommunityforestry.org)


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