Phyllis Thede

Phyllis Thede was born in 1954 to an African-American family in Chicago, Illinois. Her family moved there from the Deep South in the Great Migration of the early 20th century. Her family later moved to Creston, Iowa, in the southern part of the state, where her father worked on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad, which had established a major division center here, with machine shops and roundhouse. Phyllis attended local schools and started her higher education at Southwestern Community College. There she met Dave Thede, whom she married in 1974. His family was German-American, with ancestors who immigrated to the US from the 1840s. They moved together to Le Mars, Iowa where they both attended Westmar College. ==Work and family==

In 1976 Dave graduated and started teaching, and Phyllis also started working in local schools. They had three daughters together, Robin Thede born in Spencer and two younger girls born in Davenport, Iowa, where they lived from 1980 to 2004. Today she and Dave live in Bettendorf and have several grandchildren. Phyllis Thede has worked in a variety of administrative jobs in the schools, also becoming active in the union. She helped negotiate contracts and advised on grievances. ==Electoral history==