Obituary of James Robert Phillips

Jim Phillips was born on December 1st, 1943 in Wichita, the first of five brothers and sisters. After the war, the family relocated for several years to Normandy, France, where his father was stationed—and where the young Jim and group of other schoolboys camped out in concrete bunkers and raided the orchard of the local monastery. In time, the family returned stateside to Tulsa, where he graduated from high school in 1961. By this time, Jim had already been working for six years—first as a paperboy—to buy milk and groceries to support his since-single mother and siblings. The unselfishness and hard work that characterized his life first began here. After high school, Jim enlisted in the Air National Guard. He began an early job at a local news station while dutifully fulfilling his military commitment. He married and began a family with the birth of his first daughter, Dawna Denise. In his late twenties, he hired on at the Public Service Company of Oklahoma. There, he would spend thirty-six years as a journeyman lineman and member of IBEW Local 1002 working anything “from a light bulb to a bolt of lightning.” Jim’s profession gave him the opportunity to provide well for his family, but more importantly, it resulted in three decades of friendships and a lifetime of anecdotes. He met the love of his life, Lou, at a church function in his late thirties. They married and had two children: son, William Matthew, and daughter, Rachel Ann. Jim’s life utterly revolved around his family. He was up early on weekends and out late at night to take the kids to events. He worked calls in the middle of the night and storms in the middle of icy, dreary winters to provide for them and ensure his “little bride” never wanted for a thing. But more importantly—beyond any provision—was Jim’s profound sense of affection for, intimacy with, and unselfish devotion to his children and wife. Even in these last years when his health began to fail him, Jim soldiered on to do the tasks he always had to ensure his family and home were well taken care of. His thoughts were never about his own comfort, but rather the comfort and care of his wife and kids. Unselfish and never self-pitying—right unto the end. Jim is survived by his wife Lou Phillips, daughters Dawna Leger Phillips & Rachel Phillips, son Will Phillips, brother Mike Phillips, and sister Pat Phillips.