Phyllis Sunderland

Phyllis (Gardner) Sunderland, a resident of Fox Hill Village in Westwood, and formerly of Providence, Rhode Island, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Mexico City, Mexico, died Monday, December 22, 2025 at the White Oaks Cottages at Fox Hill Village. She was 96. Phyllis was born August 16, 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts a daughter of Harrison and Elouise (Lawrence) Gardner.  Phyllis attended the Winsor School in Boston and graduated from St. Timothy's High School in Pikesville, Maryland before studying for two years at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  While in Mexico City Phyllis volunteered as a Pink Lady at the ABC Medical Center and when in Virginia she volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House. Phyllis worked as a secretary at the White House in Washington, DC. Phyllis married Milorad Choumenkovitch and moved to Mexico in 1959 where she lived until1988. After Milorad's passing she moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. Phyllis was the wife of the late Reverend Edwin Sunderland who predeceased her in 2017, and she was the sister of he late Harrison Gardner and the late Nancy Beer.  She is survived by he two sons, Nicolas Choumenkovitch of Brookline, Massachusetts, and Iliya Choumenkovitch of Dully, Switzerland; her sister, Joan Buchanan of Beverly farms, Massachusetts; and her four grandchildren, Cristina, Christian, Alessadra, and Matthew Choumenkovitch.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend her funeral Friday, December 26, 2025 at 1 pm at the Storey Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge followed by burial next to her husband in the family lot at Mount Auburn Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers donations to the MSPCA (Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) at 350 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130  or online at www.mspca.org/donate would be appreciated.