Phyllis G. Molinelli

November 12, 1936 - July 16, 2019

Phyllis G. Molinelli, who served as one of St. Ignatius College Preparatory’s finest counselors, died Tuesday, July 16, 2019, just three weeks after suffering a stroke at her home. She was 82.

Born Nov. 12, 1936, in Oregon, she moved to Redding, Calif., as a child with her parents, Theron Ambrose Black and Ora May Roberts. As a daughter of an educator, Phyllis would note that it was no surprise that she turned out the way she did. She moved to San Francisco in 1955 after graduating from high school and worked for the American Red Cross and the State of California before the birth of her first of three children. Later, she worked as a bookkeeper before interviewing in 1978 for a job as campus ministry secretary at St. Ignatius, where she said, “I don’t type, I won’t work full time, and I won’t come in to work if my kids are sick.” She got the job anyway.

Her colleagues, knowing she would make a great counselor, encouraged her to go back to college, and in 1983, she graduated with her bachelor’s degree from USF. She worked as a counselor until her retirement in 2005, when S.I. celebrated her with the President’s Award, its highest honor for non-alumni, in thanks for all that she did for the community.

In her 27 years at S.I., she served as head of the counseling department and taught study skills, sex education, prom etiquette, career aptitude and ways to avoid drug and alcohol abuse. She was instrumental in creating the College and Career Counseling Center, and she led the first parent level meetings. She served on dozens of committees and boards and helped S.I. make the transition to coeducation. She ran Awareness Days and Career Days, served on the school’s Board of Regents, and was instrumental in creating the Community of Concern among 40 Northern California schools.

In all of this, she has succeeded because she was naturally gifted at being a mother. She once said, “I was a mother before I was a counselor, and I’ve always loved my students, especially because they are adolescents. Some women love the baby-stage best, but I love to interact with teenagers.” Phyllis listened to and cared for thousands of students by joining them on their hard journeys. They would walk into her office weighed down by all their troubles and an hour later emerge looking relieved, knowing that someone was on their side.

She created and fostered community not only at S.I. but also throughout the world where her children lived — Tokyo, Florence and Floral Park, NY — by crafting gatherings that always involved her home-made fudge, banana cream pies, chocolate crinkle cookies or homemade bread, as well as her loving sense of humor. As a mother and a grandmother, Phyllis rarely missed the birth of a grandchild, school celebrations and graduations, first communions and confirmations, or the big sporting events.

In retirement, she enjoyed tending her garden and actively participating in the lives of her children and seven grandchildren. She continued to sustain community from her San Mateo home by hosting gatherings for her family, neighbors and many friends. She was also a faithful member of St. Timothy’s Parish for more than two decades, and Phyllis never missed her high school reunions in Redding. She was predeceased by her husband, Peter Molinelli; she is survived by her siblings Verna Presseau and Gale Black (Dan Tran); by her children Paul (Theresa), Cathy and Lisa (Gianni); by her grandchildren Anthony, Allison, R.J., Emily, Alex, Andrew and Matthew; and by six nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held Tues, July 23 at 5 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. Vigil Service at Duggan’s Serra Mortuary in Daly City. The Funeral Mass will be held Wed, July 24 at 3 p.m. at St. Ignatius Church with a reception to follow. Because Phyllis believed so strongly in Catholic education, the family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the scholarship funds at St. Ignatius College Preparatory or Saint Mary’s College High School.