* Phyllis Mae Garrett; Sailing Enthusiast

Ventura resident Phyllis Mae Garrett, 73, a 25-year Ventura resident and avid sailor, died Mondayafter a long illness.

Garrett was born and lived most of her life in Pasadena. She and her husband, Lt. Jack Garrett, moved to Ventura County in 1972 when he retired from the Pasadena Police Department.

“They moved out of a big house and bought a condo and a sailboat so they could enjoy life,” said daughter Sandi Hirlinger of Ventura.

And enjoy life they did, she said, puttering around in “Empty Pockets.”

Garrett’s passion also prompted her to join the Pierpont Bay Yacht Club more than two decades ago, where she was the 51st member. She also graduated in the second docent class of the Maritime Museum at the Channel Islands Harbor.

Through the yacht club, the avid reader and needlepointer enjoyed meeting young people and serving as a surrogate relative.

“People adopted her as their mother or grandmother,” Hirlinger said. “She was just that kind of person. She loved children.”

During the club’s annual Kid’s Day--a carnival-style celebration in which hundreds of foster children get a chance to sail--the mother of three would volunteer to watch the younger children.

“She’d stay upstairs and take care of the babies,” Hirlinger said. “Or if a child was tired and wanted to take a nap, she’d watch him.”

Her fondness for children was obvious with her own family, as well.

“She was inseparable with her granddaughters,” Hirlinger said. “They would go shopping, share jokes, do their Christmas baking together. They were buddies.”

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by sons Jack Garrett of Azusa and Robert Garrett of Orlando, Fla.; a sister, Alice Staiger of Kent, Wash.; brothers George and Alfred Wurtz, both of Brookings, Ore.; three grandchildren, a step-granddaughter and a great-grandson.

She was preceded in death by her husband, who died in 1990.

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Pierpont Bay Yacht Club in Ventura.

Instead of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ventura County Children’s Service Auxiliary, 4651 Telephone Road, Suite 201, Ventura 93003.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.