- April 25, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
In her 84 years, Flagler Beach resident Phyllis Carmel went just about everywhere: abroad to Israel, Russia, Turkey and much of Europe; regularly to the local government meetings where she was often a speaker; and even, her devoted clients say, to other worlds where she spoke to spirit beings.
Carmel, a long-time Flagler Beach resident who spent her professional life iworking as a medium, died June 27 at the age of 84 and was honored in a ceremony attended by about 50 people at the Flagler Woman’s Club on Saturday.
Her profession may have been otherwordly, friends said, but Carmel's advice on the Flagler Beach was always down-to-earth, and she made sure people heard it.
“She loved Flagler Beach,” said former Flagler Beach Mayor Alice Baker at the ceremony. “She got involved to help make Flagler Beach a better place for all of us.”
Carmel first moved to Flagler Beach in the 60s before spending 27 years in Israel and then returning to Florida.
City Commissioner Jane Mealy said she met Carmel when both worked as docents at the Flagler Beach Historical Museum, and Carmel convinced her to run for a city commission seat.
“Phyllis didn’t make my work easy,” Mealy said. “Part of my campaign platform spoke to the need for all residents and businesses to be treated fairly and equitably. Phyllis never let me forget that.”
Writing under her professional name, Phyllis V. Schlemmer, Carmel published a book called “The Only Planet of Choice: Essential Briefings from Deep Space" in 1993. She wrote that the book represented the communications of a circle of nine wise beings from deep space, channeled through her while she was in a trance.
“She’s always had the gift, from the time she was five years old,” said her daughter Philly Manley, 62.
Carmel told her daughter she remembered being a small child sitting on the floor playing jacks with her grandfather while the rest of the family was busy holding his funeral.
She didn’t understand why they were all crying. After all, he was right there.
As a a professional medium, Carmel created and administered a center called “The Psychic Center” in Orlando in the late 60s and early 70s, and, later, Astrology Dynamics of Florida. Her beliefs weren’t tied to any religion, Manley said. Her mother was Jewish and her father Catholic, but she didn't practice either faith.
She was interested in herbal medicine and studied the subject in Israel, spending some of her time there time living with the Bedouin, Manley said.
Back in Flagler Beach, she attended commission meetings and served on Flagler Beach’s Economic Development Task Force.
She promoted the development of the city’s downtown master plan, volunteered on beach cleanups and encouraged people to recycle.
Former mayor Baker said Carmel was an invaluable voice in city politics and at the city commission meetings where she always sat in the front row. “I couldn’t have done it without Phyllis,” she said. “We’d hesitate to start a meeting without her.”
