Phyllis L. Rianhard

Woodbury- Phyllis Leavenworth (Chapman) Rianhard, lovingly known as Fuff, passed away peacefully on December 18, 2025. Phyllis was born on August 31, 1938, in Woodbury, Connecticut, to Howard and Maude Leavenworth. She was the third of four children, and the only girl. She spent her entire life in Woodbury. She attended Mitchell Elementary School, Woodbury Middle School, and Woodbury High School, graduating with the Class of 1956.

In 1967, she married her lifelong love and companion, Thomas Rianhard III. Together they built a 58-year marriage grounded in joy, devotion, and routine.

Phyllis worked various jobs over the years, but she most loved her time at As You Like It, a dress shop in Southbury’s Heritage Village. With a natural eye for fashion and a gift for making others feel comfortable, she delighted in styling clients.

Phyllis had a lifelong love of old houses and dreamed of living in one. That dream came true in 1979 when she and Tom moved to their cherished Woodbury home, built in the late 1700s. The home – decorated with antiques and flowers from the garden that she dried herself – was just down the road from where Phyllis and Thomas first met at a wedding celebration years before. It became a reflection of her taste and love of hosting family and friends.

Her happiest moments were in her routine around the house: going for walks with Tom, gardening, cooking or baking, reading her book in her armchair, snacking on a Cheeto or two. Even as her routine changed in the last year due to difficulty walking and standing, Phyllis and Tom adapted together.

Phyllis was a masterful conversationalist. She was the easiest person to talk to, and her curiosity about the smallest details of your life was genuine and endless. She nurtured deep, intimate relationships with each of her four grandchildren, maintaining closeness even with three living in California. Her laugh was infectious, and she had a vibrant and relentless optimism, even enduring through her recent illness and the loss of her beloved son, Mark.

Phyllis is survived by her devoted husband, Thomas Rianhard III; her children, Betsey Wong and Thomas Rianhard IV; her grandchildren, Thomas Rianhard V, Kekoa Wong, Kailen Wong, and Makena Wong; her brother-in-law Perry Rianhard; and her sisters-in-law Nina Rianhard and Elizabeth “Bissy” Rianhard. She was preceded in death by her son, Mark Chapman, and her three brothers, Frederick Leavenworth, Wesley Leavenworth, and Howard “Chan” Leavenworth.

If you'd like to honor Phyllis, please make a donation to the North Congregational Church of Woodbury or the Woodbury Ambulance Association.