Phyllis M. Long Keyport

Phyllis M. Long Keyport

Phyllis Mae Erickson Long Keyport was born April 16, 1926, in Duluth, Minnesota to Ben J and Mary Schwartz Erickson. Her family moved to Pine County, Minnesota and she spent most of her growing up years in the Groningen area west of Sandstone, Minnesota.

Phyllis graduated from Sandstone High School at 16yoa, having skipped two grades in elementary school. After graduation she went to work at a bank in neighboring Kerrick, Minnesota, until it was discovered she was underage.

During World War II Phyllis entered nursing school at St Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota, as part of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps. When she graduated, in 1948, the war was over, so she answered an ad in the Alaska Magazine for nurses needed at a hospital in Palmer, Alaska, and made her way north. At that time the Palmer hospital was two Quonset huts, connected. She lived in the “dorm” with other single nurses and teachers and because “there was little else to do in those days”. She earned her pilot’s license during one of her first summers in Alaska.

Phyllis met and married fellow Minnesotan, Merritt Long in August 1950. They made their home in Palmer where they continued to live, work, and raise their family. Phyllis and Merritt owned and operated the Matanuska Valley Credit Bureau and Collection Service for over 25 years.

After Merritt’s death in 1989, Phyllis married Frances Edward “Ed” Keyport, who had proposed to her 50 years earlier. They made their home in Sandstone, Minnesota. Ed passed away in 2010 and Phyllis moved back to Palmer in 2013 to be closer to family.

Phyllis was an avid Mat-Su Miners fan and volunteer. She was also a member of Credit Women’s International and a long-time and faithful Friend of the Palmer Public Library. She loved a good mystery; a friendly cat; baseball; and political talk shows.

Phyllis’s earthly journey ended on January 8, 2022, in Palmer. Surviving are her children, Diana Long, Jo (Mike) Weller, and Grace Long (Mike Corbin) of Palmer; Laurie (Larry) Thomas, of Grace, Idaho; and Kirke (Sonya) Long, of Portland, Oregon, along with 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

At Phyllis’ request, no services will be held.

Burial will be in the family plot at the Emmanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Dell Grove, Pine County, Minnesota at a later date.