Thomas W. Phillips

Mr. Thomas W. Phillips, Sr., age 86, passed away Wednesday, January 17, 2007, at his residence. Mr. Phillips was born on the Kerr Ranch in Bexar County, Texas on March 23, 1920. He was one of ten children born to Hardy Amos Phillips and Ida May Darling Phillips.

The family moved to Seguin, Texas where he attended school. He worked for the Civilian Conservation Corp in Arizona, and then joined the Texas National Guard, where he was assigned to a mounted patrol unit on the US-Mexican border from 1940 to 1942. In August 1942 he volunteered for a select joint US/Canadian military airborne unit that became the forerunner of the Green Berets. After training at Fort William Henry Harrison in Helena, Montana, the First Special Service Force fought in the Aleutian Islands, and then in Italy and southern France. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in 1944, as well as the Bronze Star and Medal of Good Conduct.

After the war, while stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, he met Sarah L. Nix, a member of the Women's Army Corps, and a native of Gordon County, Georgia. They were married in Frankfurt on November 8, 1947. The couple had three children. Mr. Phillips served in the US Army until 1963. After he retired, Mr. Phillips worked at Fickling & Walker Company in Dalton, Georgia. In 1982 the couple built a home in Gordon County. Both were members of the Sonoraville Baptist Church.

Mr. Phillips is preceded in death by both parents and several brothers and sisters, and by his wife of 54 years. He is survived by his daughters; Candra Phillips of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Judith Phillips Langston of Fairmount, Georgia; son and daughter-in-law; Thomas W. Phillips, Jr. (Tos) and Cecilia Phillips of Adairsville, Georgia; granddaughter and her husband; Margaret and Schae Dutton of Fairmount; grandson; Joshua Powell of Adairsville; a brother; W.C. Phillips, and three sisters; Bernice Bergfeld, Ruth Owen, and Bula Walpole of Seguin, Texas.

Funeral services for Mr. Thomas W. Phillips, Sr. will be conducted at 11:00am on Friday, January 19, at the Sonoraville Baptist Church, with Rev. Steve Skates and Rev. John Allen officiating. Mr. Phillips will lie in state at the church for one hour prior to the funeral service. Interment will follow in the Sonoraville Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Max Brannon and Sons Funeral Home on Thursday between the hours of 4:00pm and 8:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Sonoraville Baptist Church, 262 Old Fairmount Road, SE, Calhoun, GA, 30701, or United Hospice, 1195 Curtis Parkway, Calhoun, GA, 30701.

Please express online condolences at www.maxbrannonandsons.com. Max Brannon and Sons Funeral Home of Calhoun is in charge of the funeral arrangements for Mr. Thomas W. Phillips, Sr.