Phyllis L. Hartman
A native of Washington, Phyllis L. Hartman, known by many as “Tish”, passed away Sunday, January 29, 2023, in Winston-Salem, N.C. She was born May 16, 1945, to C. Gaylord Hartman and Betty Boal Hartman.
She graduated from Washington High School in 1963 and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1967. While in college, she worked three summers at Brockway Glass, mainly in the box factory.
After college, she worked three summers as a playground supervisor at Clark School with the city-school program. Her first year of teaching was at McGuffey Junior-Senior High School in Claysville.
Phyllis was married to Dennis J. Bigam, of Connellsville, for 28 years. Mr. Bigam served from 1966-1976 in the Navy, with 2 1/2 of those years being spent in-country in the Phillipines, Korea and Vietnam. For three years they were stationed at Naval Communications Station, Keflavik, Iceland, where Phyllis taught for the Department of Defense Overseas Dependent Schools. While there, they put together a trip to Paris and the next summer a golfing trip to St. Andrews, Scotland.
Miss Hartman taught briefly in TN and then worked five years at WMT. Moving to Winston-Salem, she was part-time adjunct instructor at Forsyth Technical Community College for 19 years.
In 1996, Phyllis and Dennis were divorced, but remained lifelong friends and companions.
She was preceded in death by her brother, The Rev. Robert J. Hartman and his wife, Barbara, of Beaver Falls.
Miss Hartman’s earthly body was cremated.