Phyllis Jean (Cole) Braunlich, biographer of Oklahoma writer Lynn Riggs and composer Ralph Blane, died Wednesday, April 24, 2019, at Clarehouse in Tulsa at age 93. Phyllis was born July 6, 1925, in Hammond, Indiana, daughter of Frank Elmer and Frances Eugenia "Jean" (Dinwiddie) Cole. She graduated from Hammond High School and attended Indiana University. During World War II she met and fell in love with Frank H. Braunlich, Jr., of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, who was in Army Air Corps officer training at the University of Chicago. They became engaged prior to his deployment to the South Pacific. After a two and a half year separation, he returned home and they were married in Tulsa on March 17, 1946. There they raised four children: Beverly Jeanne Braunlich, Juli Anne Bulleigh, Anita Louise Long, and Thomas David Braunlich. Favorite family activities included church choir, camping, swimming, boating, and water skiing. After her first career as a stay-at-home mom, Phyllis earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and a Masters in English from the University of Tulsa. She was a reporter for the Broken Arrow Ledger and editor of the Tulsa Southside Times. She edited the Lost Generation Journal for several years. She also taught English and journalism at Tulsa Junior College and Oral Roberts University. She published numerous articles in newspapers and magazines and contributed to literary journals including World Literature Today, The Midwest Quarterly and The Dictionary of Literary Biography: Native American Writers Volume (1996). Her poem "Over Eighty" won First Place for Poetry in the Tulsa Public Library's Adult Creative Writing Contest in 2012. In addition she researched and published biographies of three Americans she felt were "worth remembering" – Haunted by Home: The Life and Letters of Lynn Riggs; the story of C. T. Erickson titled Stone Pillows: An American's Ground-Breaking Mission to King Zog's Albania; and Ralph Blane: Oklahoma's Hall of Fame Songwriter from Hollywood's Golden Age. Phyllis was active in volunteer work throughout her life. She was one of the first members of the Tulsa chapter of World Neighbors. She volunteered for the Margaret Hudson Society, Camp Fire Girls, the Broken Arrow Arts and Humanities Council, Broken Arrow Historical Society, and at local hospitals. She served on boards and in auxiliaries at area Methodist and Episcopal churches, and was a member of St. Patrick's Episcopal Church for the last 20 years. She was past president of the Tulsa chapter of Women in Communications and a member of Pen Women International. She also served on the organizing board of Clarehouse, a hospice care center in Tulsa. In politics she was involved in civil rights issues and spoke at Tulsa City Council meetings in favor of integration of the Tulsa public swimming pools and in opposition to the practice of "redlining" by real estate agencies. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband; sister and brother-in-law Shirley and Del Gauthier; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Bob and Carolyn McDuffie; and sons-in-law Bryce Long and Roger Bulleigh. She is survived by her four children; grandchildren Connie Bulleigh, Aaron (Jacqueline) Bulleigh, Phyllis (Sean) McComb, Marla (Bradley) Hart, Joel (Kimberly) Bulleigh, Stephen (Alicia) Bulleigh, Adam (Jeannine) Bulleigh, Nathan (Jessica) Bulleigh, Natalie (Soren) Michaelsen, Lisa Lightner, and Cole Lightner; 32 great-grandchildren; 7 great-great-grandchildren; niece Nancy McDuffie; nephews Douglas (Deborah) McDuffie, Gary (Mary) Gauthier, Gordon (Paula) Gauthier, and Gregory Gauthier. A memorial service officiated by Father Shelby Scott will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 10, 2019, at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church, 4250 W. Houston Street, Broken Arrow, followed by interment at Fort Gibson National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Phyllis requested that contributions be made to St. Patrick's Church or to another charity. Legacy Touch Code: D2DZNDYM