George Neal Phillips died on September 21, 2012. He was 91 years old. He enjoyed good health for all of those years, but suffered a heart attack and was not able to recover.
George was born on June 9, 1921 in Nettleton, Arkansas, son of farmers James Avery and Cora Lee Phillips.
George was determined not to forever 'look at the backside of a mule', and worked at a gasoline station in town, earning enough money to learn to fly airplanes. His mother was his first passenger in the biplane he learned to fly. When WWII came, pilots were in short supply, and he joined the Army Air Corps, but was transferred to the Marine Corps when they called. He flew transport planes throughout the Pacific during the 1940's.
George met his wife, Mary Jo, after the war, while he was flying commercial airplanes in South America. They married in 1950 and moved to Hawaii where they spent some time together and Mary Jo waited while George, based in Japan, flew transport planes during the Korean conflict. George was very proud of his service with the United States Marine Corp, rising to a rank of Lt. Colonel before his retirement from the Reserves in 1963. His time as a military pilot in WWII prepared him for a career as an airline pilot, and he worked for Braniff Airways for almost thirty years before retiring in 1981.
George is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Mary Jo Phillips, by his son George Phillips, Jr. and daughter-in-law Tracey Smith; his son James Michael Phillips and daughter-in-law Leslie Phillips; daughter-in-law Lynn Phillips and by his four grandchildren, Scott Phillips, Jonathan Phillips, Payton Phillips and Avery Phillips.
George was preceded in his death by his son, Ben Roy Phillips.
A graveside funeral service with military honors will take place at 2 PM, Wednesday, September 26th, 2012, at Forest Grove Cemetery in Telephone, Texas.
No flowers, instead please support your favorite charity.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, September 25, 2012
