Obituary of Donald Keith Phillips

Donald Keith Phillips was born on June 17, 1964, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Darryl and Suzane (Bird) Phillips.

He spent his earliest years in Iowa before moving with his family to Florida. They moved to Heavener, Oklahoma when Don was 9 years old, where they stayed. He attended Heavener Public Schools.

Don married his high school sweetheart, Kim Steelman, on June 23, 1982, in Waldron, Ark. The couple moved to Tulsa, OK, where Don attended  Spartan School of Aeronautics, graduating in September of 1985 with an A/P license and an IA certificate.

Don began working at the Sand Springs Airport, then he and Kim moved to Sallisaw, Oklahoma, where he worked for a pilot and earned his Private Pilot License. He spent many hours flying planes with his friends. He enjoyed attending the yearly EAA Oskosh Fly-In at Oskosh, Wisconsin.

Later, the family moved back to Jenks, Oklahoma, where Don worked at Christensen Aviation, then went to work at Autopilot Central at the Tulsa International Airport. There, he met many professional airplane owners, one of whom was Roy Clark. As a result of these acquaintances, he was approached by a gentleman whose plane he had worked on. He admired Don's many talents and intuitive understanding of mechanical things and offered him a job. As a result, Don became Vice President of RMI, which was a large road construction company, traveling and working all over the United States, Russia, China, and in Chile.

Later, he went back to his first love airplanes, working on them at various firms until his health began to decline.

During that time, he and Kim bought some property in Mounds and built their own home, something Don had always wanted to do. They built their home themselves - with the only labor to help them coming from their children and a next-door neighbor boy of 13, named Tyler.

Don enjoyed carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work - things he excelled at - and was always ready to tackle a problem no matter how difficult the task may have seemed.

Don had a unique sense of humor, and once people got to know him, they couldn't help but like him.

Don deeply loved his family, his friends, and church. At the time of his passing, he was a member of the South Heights Baptist Church of Sapulpa.

Don left this life and entered his heavenly home to be with his Savior on Saturday, July 20, 2024. He was preceded in death by his parents and two of his sisters - Terry King and Debbie Marshall.

He leaves behind his wife, Kim, one daughter - Autumn, and her husband Kevin Merideth. One son - Derek and his wife, Brittany, six wonderful grandchildren - Noah, Braden, Eli, Bentley, Azlynn, and Dextin, his sister, Patti Alexander and her husband, Bob, his stepmother, Pat Phillips, and an aunt, Marilyn Johnson, plus numerous nieces and nephews.