Phyllis Faye Roth Schlezinger Cantor, died on Nov. 16, at age 89.
Phyllis was an award-winning baker, shopaholic, champion of social justice, terror behind the wheel and zealously devoted mother of five who was a resident of Village Shalom in Overland Park, Kansas, where she received exceptional care from the staff.
Phyllis was born in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 22, 1934, the daughter of Irvin and Mildred (nee Pailet) Roth.
She is survived by her children, Lauren Cantor Fasbinder (nee Schlezinger), Chuck (Sandi) Cantor (nee Schlezinger), Dr. Michael (Tammi Levy-Cantor) Cantor and Dr. Bruce (Susan) Cantor; grandchildren, Rabbi Rachel Short, Morgan Fasbinder, Chip Cantor, Graham Fasbinder, Samson Cantor, Benjamin Cantor, Lily Cantor and Isaac Cantor; and great-granddaughter, Sephira Short. Phyllis also leaves behind her brother, Benson (Arlene) Roth; sister, Hellan (Brad) Dowden; and many, many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by husbands, Clifford Schlezinger and Solomon Cantor; son David Cantor; son-in-law Mark (Lauren) Fasbinder; and brother L. Jack (Janice) Roth.
Growing up in Bexley, Ohio, Phyllis belonged to Congregation Tifereth Israel and graduated from Bexley High School where she made a name for herself by joining and pretty much running everything. This caught the attention of Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly around the globe solo. Phyllis also hosted a local TV show on which teenagers debated global politics. One internationally televised debate with two students in London, England, was about NATO. It was so successful that she and the other student were given their own television show on Sunday afternoons, when they would debate with students from different Columbus area high schools. While at the television/radio station, Phyllis asked to work in the radio station's record library, where she selected songs played after school for teens.
After her freshman year at Michigan State University, Phyllis met Clifford Schlezinger thanks to her best friend Lois Lewin Daniels, Clifford’s cousin. Phyllis and Cliff were married in 1955 with more than 600 people in attendance, most of them relatives. Their daughter, Lauren, was born in 1956, and they were expecting another child (Chuck) when Clifford tragically died in 1958. As a single mother of two, Phyllis decided to finish her degree in medical therapeutic dietetics at The Ohio State University, with help from a scholarship from the White Castle Foundation…yes, the place with the square burgers.
In 1963, Phyllis married Dr. Solomon Cantor, who adopted her two children, and moved to Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where Dr. Cantor practiced family medicine. They had two more sons, Michael and Bruce, and later adopted David. Ten years later, the family moved to Chesterfield, Missouri, and joined Congregation B’nai Amoona, where Phyllis was an active member for nearly 50 years. At their Passover Seders, they would host Jewish families who recently immigrated from Eastern Europe and also Washington University students. They also ran Marriage Encounter seminars.
Phyllis lived by the credo, “Event start times are just a suggestion.” She was always the last to arrive at weddings, funerals, barbecues, birthday parties, family dinners and so on. Family and friends just considered this a part of her personality and made adjustments, because Phyllis was worth the wait.
After the death of her second husband, she got even more involved in community service. Phyllis chaired B’nai Amoona’s Social Action Committee for 11 years. Some of her programs included collecting and distributing school supplies every year for children in Black churches after the Ferguson riot; working with Interfaith Partnership to reach across lines of religious differences; organizing and collecting clothes and toiletries for Lydia’s House, a shelter for domestic violence victims; buying turkeys for nine different food pantries; creating an older singles group; and Christmas Cookies for Heroes, which she started after 9/11, with annual deliveries to more than 62 police and fire stations. She also started an annual electronics recycling drive, collecting three truckloads the first year. By year seven, the total was 33 tractor trailers filled with recyclable electronics amassed in just two days and kept out of landfills.
One initiative Phyllis was particularly proud of was taking on the Walmart Corporation in 2006. She was in a Sam’s Club and saw them throwing away perishable food that had just passed the expiration date. She discovered that grocery stores were not exempt under the Missouri Law allowing restaurants to donate food. Phyllis was not shy when it came to getting things done; she called her state senator and representative until they got a bill passed. Phyllis was invited to Jefferson City for the bill signing and received the pen the governor used to sign RSMo Section 192.081. However, once it passed, she noticed Sam’s Club was still throwing out food, but making a cash donation to food banks to cover the value of the food they were tossing. Upset by the unnecessary waste, she contacted a TV news station in St. Louis to do an expose.
The reporter invited Phyllis to accompany him undercover. With a hidden camera, they walked in and asked an employee what they did with expired food. The employee responded, “Oh, we throw it out.” The station did three reports on the issue using the video and audio taken that day and even interviewed Phyllis on camera as she presented all the information she had personally collected. Thanks to her perseverance, Walmart changed its practices and decided to donate the food, and they are now the number one supplier of protein for area food banks.
Despite all her work for social action, Phyllis still found time for her favorite hobbies: antiquing, cooking, baking, reading and shopping.
Her children believe that her move from St. Louis to an assisted living facility in the Kansas City area in 2021 contributed to Tuesday Morning closing all its stores in 2023.
Phyllis also left behind a great deal of furniture, knickknacks, books, and junk for her daughter and sons who have absolutely no idea what to do with it all.
Phyllis was a fighter. She fought Walmart, she fought for the environment, she fought to help those in need, and she fought cancer three times. While her fighting days are over, the difference she made in so many people’s lives will live on.
A funeral was held graveside on Nov. 18, at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in Chesterfield, Missouri.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Village Shalom in Overland Park or Congregation B'nai Amoona in Creve Coeur, Missouri.
Online condolences for the family may be left at louismemorialchapel.com.
