Daniel A. "Dan" Phillips, who was the Tulsa Police Department's deputy chief for more than a decade, died Thursday. He was 91.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 P.M., Monday at Moore's Southlawn Chapel.
Phillips was born May 18, 1917 in Hunter, AR to Joe and Fannie Phillips. The family later moved to Tulsa. One of his brothers, Sgt. Ralph Phillips, also was a Tulsa police officer, and their father, Capt. Joe Phillips, served 33 years on the Tulsa police force. Another brother, Noel Phillips, was a training instructor for the Tulsa Fire Department.
Dan Phillips married his childhood sweetheart, Marie Acton, in Arkansas in 1936. Phillips served in the Army during WWII from 1942 to 1945 in India, Iran, France and Germany. He was a building contractor before joining the Tulsa Police Department in 1950. He was a police officer for 25 years, advancing rapidly through the ranks to the department's No. 2 position. He attended police science schools in Texas and Oklahoma and received specialized training in police administration. He later was a guest lecturer in criminal justice classes at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa. Phillips started his police career in the Patrol Division and was transferred to the Juvenile Bureau of the Detective Division in 1952. He was promoted from corporal to sergeant in 1957, and a month later he was promoted to lieutenant in charge of the Crime Prevention Unit. He became a captain in 1959. He was a chief of detectives for three years before then Police Chief Jack Purdie promoted him to deputy chief in 1963. Phillips retired in 1975. He and his wife then moved to the Big Cabin area, where they raised hogs on a 160 acre ranch. They later lived in Broken Arrow before moving to a retirement center in Tulsa.
He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Marie Phillips; daughter, Gloria Stice of Broken Arrow; two granddaughters, Michelle Cato and Angie Griffith; one great-grandson, Phillip Cato; brother, Ralph Phillips.
Source: Moore Southlawn Funeral Home, Tulsa, Oklahoma
