Christ Community Covenant Church

Marvin and Phyllis Giddings

Marv and Phyllis Giddings have attended 4C’s since 1996. But their family’s history dates back to the early years of our country. The first Giddings arrived on the ship Planter in 1635, and the Giddings Hay Farm established in 1658 in Massachusetts is evidence that the family worked hard to put down roots in the early days of our country. The Childers clan, Phyllis’ family, was also an early arrival in the Colonies, settling first in Virginia then moving south and west. Many years later both families would eventually settle in and around Denver and Marv and Phyllis are proud to be called Colorado natives.

Marvin Eugene Giddings was born Sept 22, 1941 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver, the first son of William J and Ruby Martin Giddings. Marv’s younger brother, Del, was born in 1944, and sister, June, arrived in 1947. The family lived in the Bromwell neighborhood near 3rd and Milwaukee and Marv attended Bromwell Elementary through 2nd grade. Marv remembers what fun they had when their dad would take them down to the nearby dump to shoot off fireworks. That same site is now the location of the Cherry Creek Mall! When Marv was eight, his parents moved the family to Wheat Ridge. The family was active in Trinity Baptist Church and Marv was raised with the high moral code of that denomination, including no movies or dances. In those days, the unwritten rule was boys didn’t “smoke or chew or date girls who do.” Marvin attended Wheat Ridge schools from 3rd grade through high school. He was active in sports – track, in particular - and excelled in relay races and the long jump. He also loved playing the trumpet in the Wheat Ridge High School award-winning band, and his was the first class to graduate from the new Wheat Ridge High School in 1959.

Phyllis Marie Childers was also born at St. Luke’s hospital in Denver “many years later” on October 18, 1944, to John Burt and Florence Holmquist Childers. During the “war years” the family lived on a small farm near Niwot. Her dad remained at home raising dairy cows, considered an essential occupation. However, several of her relatives did go including her uncle who was shot down at the very end of his tour and is buried in France. In 1949, the family moved into Longmont for a few years, where her dad had a small trucking company and did custom farming. While they lived in town, her mother worked in various places, and also began the first Longmont Bible Book Store in their living room. When their mother was away, Phyllis and her two sisters, Jennie – born in 1941, and Patty - born in 1946, helped out as sales people.

In 1955, the family moved to a farm near Longmont. While Patty learned to drive farm equipment, Phyllis remained indoors dealing with asthma, so she learned to cook and bake at a young age and loved playing the piano. Phyllis recalls that they did have horses and loved to ride them. She also remembers the first time they heard a jet plane fly overhead and it nearly scared them to death. Then, on November 1, 1955, United Airlines Flight 629 exploded and crashed near their farm killing all aboard. Jennie was home alone and heard the plane go down. Vehicles from all around streamed down their road, looking for the plane – which came down just a few miles northeast of the farm. It was an incident they would never forget.

The family attended Calvary Baptist Church in Longmont and Phyllis was raised with the same strong moral code as Marv. Life revolved around church, school, and work at home and away from the farm. During those middle school years, Phyllis and Patty (who also attends 4C’s) attended a small country school that combined grades 1-2, 3-5 and 6-8! The girls felt they had attended each grade 3 times! While others attended football games, Phyllis began working as a carhop at Hamburger Haven at only 13. But she enjoyed a great family life, and Phyllis gives credit to amazing church youth sponsors who rallied around the teenagers offering wholesome activities that made them feel like they weren’t missing anything. Phyllis graduated from Longmont High School in 1962.

After high school, Marv worked toward his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering at CSU in Ft. Collins. Just a few years later, Phyllis attended Westmont College in California, but returned to Colorado after a year and transferred to CSU as well. She took an attic apartment in the home of an elderly lady and helped run Ft. Collins’ first Bible Book store in an unused bedroom in her landlady’s home. Marv and Phyllis first met while attending First Baptist Church. They became friends working together at the Sunday evening college group. One of the activities of the group was to have a vesper service for local nursing home residents. Marv would often play his trumpet for those outings and Phyllis accompanied him on the piano. She was also always willing to lend a sympathetic ear as Marv went through the heart-ache of a broken engagement.

Phyllis moved from her attic apartment to the AAUW co-op house to save money and worked while attending school. In December of 1964, the House had its annual Christmas dinner and Phyllis offered to serve in the kitchen. However, the girls insisted she attend and invite a date. She tried her cousin unsuccessfully, then thought of her good friend Marv at church who might be willing to come – just as a friend. Well, one thing led to another and they began dating seriously in January and were married at Calvary Baptist Church in Longmont on September 10, 1965. The couple had to rush back from their short honeymoon to “stand in line” to register for their next semester classes (no computers in those days!). In 1966, Marvin finished his Masters in Economics and Phyllis received her BS degree in Home Economics Education.

After graduation, Marv enrolled at Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Denver and Phyllis looked for teaching jobs. With few options in the Denver area, she did find that she qualified to teach in the Head Start Program and taught in Commerce City for two years while Marv worked part-time at the post office. Marv’s goal was not to serve God as a pastor or missionary, but as a better-trained and well-rounded layman. As part of their training, all students at the school were required to serve in field ministry, so in the fall of 1966, Marv accepted the position of youth leader at Belcaro Evangelical Free Church. The next summer, a musical group from Trinity Junior College in Langley, BC presented a concert and slide presentation about the school which interested the couple. Marv kept in contact with Dr. Cal Hanson, the school’s founding president, and after further correspondence and meetings, he was offered the position of Acting Dean of Students following graduation from the seminary in the summer of 1969.

Moving to a “foreign” country was quite an adventure for the young couple and they were instantly captivated by the fledgling campus situated on a former dairy farm in the beautiful Fraser Valley. Marv’s duties as Acting Dean were many and varied and he wasn’t sure that his degrees adequately prepared him for this new position. Despite its ups and downs, Marv and Phyllis enjoyed their time in Canada. Phyllis drew from her previous experience and started the first campus book store while Marv worked to make each student’s experience at TJC the best it could be. The couple enjoyed inviting the students into their home for fun and fellowship and Phyllis’ delicious cookies. Those impromptu gatherings helped fill a void in many a homesick college student’s life. They had the additional privilege of traveling with the musical ensemble from the school, performing in many towns in British Columbia and Alberta. During one trip, Phyllis was expecting their first daughter, Kimberley and had to meet the challenges of eating at each stop where their hosts provided special food for them – moose roast, moose stew, moose hamburgers, and more moose roasts!

After a year as Acting Dean, Marv stayed on and taught Economics, Field Surveying, Old and New Testament, and Math for two years. He became Dean of Students again for another year and then returned to teaching for his fifth and final year at Trinity. Kimberley, born in 1970, was almost four and the couple longed to be near family again. So Marv resigned and returned to Colorado to work at Public Service the same year his dad retired from Public Service. While Phyllis and Kimberley stayed behind in Langley to pack their belongings and oversee the sale of the house, Marv set about finding a home for them in Denver. An old grade school friend told him of a house for sale in Arvada, not his first choice of towns, but he went to check it out and he liked it and thought Phyllis would, too, so he bought it and they have lived there for 42 years. It turned out to be the perfect spot for them with both church and schools nearby.

Marv worked 25 years at Public Service, first in Rates and Regulations and later in Financial Services. He continued teaching periodically both within Public Service and across the country, explaining how Public Service determined their rates and regulations. His knowledge made him the perfect spokesman for Public Service in Washington, D.C. where he testified before the Public Utilities Commission. Away from work, he taught Sunday School at Ralston Hills Baptist Church, was a deacon, the song leader, and choir member. Life at home got busier and busier with the arrival of three more babies - Whitney in 1979, Nicole in 1982, and Andrew in 1985. In addition to caring for her four children, Phyllis was pianist and organist, worked with women’s bible study and was church treasurer for many years. Later, as the children got older, Marvin trained to referee soccer games and did so all over the area for many years. Some days he was a ref and had 3 children playing so Phyllis and Patty covered games he couldn’t attend.

The children all attended Stott, Oberon and A-West. Between 1988 and 1990, Phyllis home-schooled them, and during that time, the family became very involved with Russian refugees. They helped locate housing and jobs, took them to INS and doctor appointments and helped fill out endless immigration paperwork. Despite their struggles with language and communication, many of the Russian families became very dear friends with whom “Marvel” and “Felix” continue to spend time. Eventually, the Ralston Hills congregation became mostly Russian and it seemed very appropriate, in 1997, to turn over the church and property to the growing Russian church family. Ralston Hills Slavic Baptist Church has since been responsible for planting several new churches in the Denver metro area.

Having heard from many friends about the awesome pastor and youth group at 4 C’s, the Giddings family decided to check out this church that met in our first daughter’s former school. They quickly decided that this would be their new church home, although, even after their move, Phyllis continued with the Russian church – attending first service here then running over to Ralston Hills to play the organ and help them with the difficult paperwork following their arrival in America. Finally, in 2002, because there were enough English-speaking folks who were able to help the newcomers, Phyllis was “excused” by the Russian elders. She could now be a “full time” 4C’s member.

Always a “do-er,” Marv immediately joined the choir, volunteered for the lay pastors staff, taught in the adult classes and enjoyed helping with VBS. Phyllis worked for 10 years in MOPS caring for the 18-24 month old toddlers, served on the Fellowship committee, and was on council and chaired the Missions Committee through which 4C’s first connected with Hope House. Marv had started aerating lawns to raise money for Andrew’s soccer team and then to help with school expenses. Eventually, he turned his fundraising attention to Hope House and would personally raise over $60,000 for that worthy cause. Hope House now gives out a yearly award called the “Marv Giddings Extraordinary Fundraising Award.”

After Marv retired from Public Service in 1999, he worked for his brother in commercial construction for several years. When construction slowed down, Marv left and worked for a sub-contractor, learning codes and preparing bids for steel construction. During this time, he was also an adjunct professor at CCU. In 2009, he finally retired for good and in 2010,11,12, and 13, he traveled with his brother, Del, to Southeast Asia to put in water systems for mountain tribes people in the northern area of Thailand. In 1991, Phyllis had started her own business, baking cookies and candies for teachers, friends and even some commercial clients which she has continued to do until the present, though now on a much smaller scale.

After Marv was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2014, he and Phyllis have had to slow down some. Now, time is spent with grandkids and babysitting, but they know that those opportunities will be reduced as the children get older and Marv’s condition tolerates less commotion and noise. They are just so grateful that the children live near by and they can visit regularly. Three families live in Arvada and one in Ft. Collins. The only thing Phyllis plans on right now is being real busy taking care of Marv in the future.

Looking back, Marv’s and Phyllis’ calling has always been taking care of people in many different places and circumstances. They came from a family history of those who were never afraid to demonstrate their compassion for others less fortunate and from families who prayed for each other and were always active in their churches and the lives of their children. Family always came first, but there was always enough to share with others. It has been a generational thing. As Phyllis said, the philosophy always was, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead”. ?