In Memory ~ Randy Phillip

 In Memory ~ Randy Phillip

Randall “Randy” Phillip, age 70, of Philip, South Dakota, formerly of Rapid City, died on Saturday, July 22, 2023 at the Scotchman Living Center in Philip.

Randall Dean Phillip, age 70, born February 14, 1953, in Alliance, NE to Robert and Alma Bernadine (Colling) Phillip died on Saturday, July 22, 2023, at the Scotchman Living Center in Philip, SD. Randy was a jack of many trades who worked and lived in many places including Costa Rica. While living in Plainfield, NJ, He and Allan Mintzer, owned and operated the Victorian Mansion, Questover, where they hosted many weddings and social events, He also owned and operated Kansas Floral Shop in Plainfield.

He is survived by his siblings Don (Verlene) Phillip and Roberta Phillip of Hermosa, SD, Janice (Archie) Lawrence, of Alliance, NE, and Mary Dietrich of Keystone, SD, nieces, and nephews with special mention of nephews, Walt, Scott, and Terry.

Preceding him in death are his parents, brother-in-law and a niece and a nephew.

Arrangements are with Rush Funeral Home of Philip, South Dakota.

Unfortunately, these are the only pictures I could find of Randy.  First one is his kindergarten picture that Grandma Alma Phillip always had hanging in her home.

This picture is in 2000 at the Phillip Family Reunion in Alliance.  Picture includes Sister Alma (Aunt Jo, and myself {Sharon})

In Memory ~ Steve Phillip

In Memory ~ Steven Lane Phillip 

Below is Steve's graduation picture and his obituary that was printed in the Lincoln Journal Star in March, 2021.

Steve's memorial was held at the Scottsbluff National Monument, June 26th, 2021.  Steve's request was that he be given a ride in his Harley.  Dean and Becky rode motorcycles out from Lincoln for the memorial, Dean on Steve's Harley with Steve's ashes in the saddle bags.  Many of the cousins were present from Steve's generation ~ Ray, Sharon, Dick, Bill, Jim; Judy; Janice, Mary, Roberta, Verlene (representing Don) as well as Steve's siblings ~ Lynelle, Dean, and Julie; his children Stephanie and Daniel and their families, cousin's spouses, and a few close friends.  After the memorial most everyone went out to a restaurant for dinner and drinks as part of Steve's last wishes.  Thank You, Steve and your family!!!! 

Interesting Trivia in honor of Steve:  Steven Lane was a namesake of his Dad, Leo Lane.  For those of you who never knew, Grandma Alma and Grandpa Willie Walter Phillip named their four boys to give them unique initials.  These four sons had 17 children.  The number of children is beside their name.

    KK Phillip (6) ~ Kenneth Kermit (no one took his middle name 😏 but he had a grandson named Kenneth) **Children ~ Ray, Sharon, Dick, Bill, Jim, Paul

    JJ Phillip (2) ~ Jean John (namesake was son Jary Jean)(nephew William Jean "Bill" always thought he was named after Jean but later found out he was named for his mother Harriet Jean)**Children ~ Jary, Judy

    RR Phillip (5) ~ Robert (Bob) Ray (daughter Roberta and nephew Ray were namesakes of Robert)**Children ~ Janice, Dan, Mary, Randy, Roberta

    LL Phillip (4) ~ Leo Lane (....as you know, Steven Lane)**Children ~ Lynelle, Steve, Dean, Julie

Unfortunately now two of the 17 are gone ~ 

• Paul Claire Phillip (1958-2019) 
• Steven Lane Phillip (1950-2021)

On a side note:  Steve rode motorcycles with three deputy friends.  Two attended the memorial service as seen in the picture below.  At a later date, the two friends rode their motorcycles out with the third friend to the Scottsbluff National Monument to show him where Steve's ashes had been scattered.

Pictures from the memorial in Nebraska:

Daughter Stephanie getting ashes from Steve's Harley

Brother Dean and children Daniel, & Stephanie

Back Row:  Ella, Brian, Stephanie, friend Deputy Ron Boden, friend Deputy Terry Jones, Larry Mann, Jim, Bill, Dick, Roberta, Janice, Verlene, Judy, Judi, Dean, Becky, Ray, Mary

Front row:   Christie, Dayton, Daniel, Sharon, Julie, Lynelle

November 30, 1950 - March 22, 2021 ~ Steve's High School graduation picture

Born November 30th, 1950 in Alliance, Nebraska to Leo and Zetta Phillip. He died in Omaha, Nebraska on March 22nd, 2021 after a three-year battle with Melanoma. He spent most of his adult life living in Lincoln, Nebraska where he raised two children, Daniel and Stephanie. Steven worked as a deputy for the Lancaster County Sheriff's Department for over 30 years and formed many friendships along the way.

Steven was passionate about motorcycles and muscle cars, particularly his Harley-Davidsons and Corvettes. He also spent much of his time combing flea markets, antique shops and thrift stores for antiques with his companion Dee. His greatest loves in life were his two granddaughters, Ella and Dayton.

Survived by children, Daniel Phillip (Christie), Stephanie Semerad (Brian), granddaughters Ella and Dayton, and siblings, Lynelle Gramm, Dean Phillip (Becky), and Julie Phillip.

In honor of Steven's request, there will be no services. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent in Steven's name to the Cancer Research Institute to further cancer treatment for others.

In Memory ~ Paul Clair Phillip

This picture was taken during
Christmas holidays, 2018, when
Paul, Geoffrey, and Hayley were
talking to Sharon on Paul's
speakerphone

Paul Clair Phillip, age 61, died Friday, April 1, 2019, in Boise.

Paul was born Feb. 2, 1958, in Alliance, Neb. His parents (deceased) were Kenneth and Harriet Phillip.  He was raised in Alliance, graduating in 1976, followed by attending Chadron State College and working at Gene’s Pharmacy on weekends and summers before moving to Moscow.  There he worked at K-Mart before buying a Daylight Donut Shop in 1980.  Later, he began working at Washington State University and was also co-owner with his wife, Colleen, of Quilt Something! (featured as a top 10 shop in Quilt Sampler magazine).

In 2009, he divorced, took early retirement, moved to Denver, Colo., and finished his college degree via online classes he had started 36 years earlier.  In 2013, he began working for Global Village Charter Collaborative schools and later kept his employment by working from his new home in Boise. He was still employed there at the time of his death.

His activities in later life included being vice president of the condo association where he lived, exercising at a local pool, playing the trumpet in the Boise Community Band and, most importantly, enjoying his grandson, Henry.

He is survived by his ex-wife, Colleen Murphy, of Boise; his son, Geoffrey Phillip, and his partner, Amanda Hanson, of Denver, Colo.; his daughter, Hayley Sanders, and her husband, Tyler Sanders, of Boise; his grandson, Henry Sanders, of Boise; his siblings, Ray (Judi) Phillip, of Newcastle, Wash., Sharon (Tony) Singleton, of Moscow, Dick (Cindy) Phillip, of Riverton, Wyo., Bill (Janet) Phillip, of Cheney, Wash., and Jim (Kathie) Phillip, of Torrington, Wyo.; as well as many nieces and nephews.

Aclesa Chapel/Boise Funeral Home was in charge of cremation. A celebration of Paul’s life is at 3 p.m. today, April 17, 2019, in Cassia Park, on the Boise Bench.  Memorials may be sent to 4721 W. Cassia St., Boise, ID 83705.

1958

Below are pictures I found of Paul.  Not sure of the dates on all of them, but fun pictures to see.  If you click on any picture you can see it bigger.

1963

 

1976

1983

Paul with grandson Henry, 2018

And other fun things I found...

1975

I believe this is when he wanted to
buy his first car (probably 1974)

In Memory ~ Bob Phillip

In Memory ~ Bob Phillip

Robert R. Phillip, 96, of Hermosa SD died Saturday, July 21, 2018 at the Rapid City Hospice House.

Public memorial services will be held on Saturday, August 25, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at the Masonic Lodge in Hermosa SD.

Graveside services will be held at the Alliance Cemetery in Alliance NE on Saturday, September 15, at 2:00 p.m., followed by a gathering of family and friends at the Masonic Lodge in Alliance NE.

A memorial has been established by the family.

Born: September 10, 1921 in Springview NE.

Death: July 21, 2018 in Rapid City SD.




The obituary:
Robert R. Phillip September 10, 1921 - July 21, 2018 
Robert R. "Bob" Phillip, 96, of Hermosa, and formerly of Alliance and Scottsbluff, Neb., finished his work on Saturday, July 21, 2018. The third of four sons, he was born on Sept. 10, 1921, to Willie Walter and Alma Mary (Vifquain) Phillip on their Springview, Neb., farm. Their lives on the farm were chronicled in black and white photos taken by Alma and published in book form in 1978, "Next Year Country." They lost the farm in 1934, a sad but common occurrence of the time. The family moved to Alliance and applied themselves to whatever work they could find. 

During his school years, Bob delivered newspapers and worked as a stockboy for Rhoad's, an upscale ladies' wear emporium. Bob became a carpenter at the age of 5 when he built a pen for a runt piglet from a wooden apple crate. While still in high school, he worked for a carpenter who, after Bob's near- disastrous encounter with a gasoline engine-powered table saw, gave him the first rule for a successful career - "If you don't understand machinery, leave it alone." His children heard that phrase a lot while growing up, and now Bob's grandkids hear it, too. 

Across the street and a few houses down from their home in Alliance lived a family named Colling. Bob met the daughter of that house, Alma Bernadine "Be," and watched her roller skate and play jacks with her friends "until they nearly wore a hole in the sidewalk." Bob and Be graduated together from Alliance High School in 1938. 

With the beginning of World War II, Bob enlisted in the Navy in February, 1942, and was sent to basic training and carpentry school in Tiburon, Calif., where he was rated Carpenter's Mate 1st class. That summer, Be Colling and her sister-in-law took the train from Alliance to California, ostensibly to visit Be's brother Floyd, also in the Navy. In later years, Be's mother said, "We knew she was really going out there to marry Bob." Bob and Be married on Aug. 6, 1942, in San Francisco, where they resided until Bob was stationed at the torpedo net depot on Adak in the Aleutian Islands, and Be returned to Alliance. 

After enduring 20 months of mud, snow, ice, a constantly smoking volcano and "mosquitoes the size of B-52s" on Adak Island, he was assigned to the troop transport ship APA-120 Hinsdale. The Hinsdale delivered Marines and landing craft to Iwo Jima, and on February 23, 1945, Bob watched through the ship's gunsights while the Marines raised the last U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi. Afterwards, they transported wounded Marines to the hospital on Guam. Early on Easter Sunday morning, April 1, 1945, the Hinsdale was transporting Marines to Okinawa when a kamikaze struck the ship's boiler room at the waterline. The inrushing cold seawater caused the boiler to explode, killing all hands but one in the room at the shift change. Bob was one of the first on the scene with the damage control crew, and they managed to shore up the ship enough to slowly make their way to Ulithi Atoll for further repairs. 

After the war, Bob returned home to his growing family and his profession of carpentry, working his way up from carpenter to foreman to job superintendent. In the post-War years, he built schools, churches, homes, a college, a shopping mall and low-income housing. 

In his spare time, he built a beautiful home for his family in Alliance. In 1974, he began building and remodeling banks. On one occasion, his employer was awarded a contract to remodel a bank "only if Bob Phillip will be running the job." Bob worked in Nebraska, Idaho, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado and Wisconsin. He took great pride in everything he built, and it showed. 

Bob's involvement with the Masonic fraternal organization was very important to him. He was a member of the Alliance Lodge #183 for 72 years, and in that time he only missed one of their annual reunions. While attending his last reunion in November, 2017, it was speculated that he was the oldest active Mason in the Southern Jurisdiction, and most likely in the entire world. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour in 1981, and coroneted a 33deg Inspector General Honorary in 1991. He maintained a dual membership with the Battle River Lodge #92 in Hermosa. Bob was gratified to see his son, grandsons, great-grandson and a nephew follow him into the Masons. 

Retiring in 1987, Bob and Be bought property in Hermosa and built a home. Bob planted trees and, over the course of several years, built a dry-stone retaining wall nearly 250 feet long and up to 12 feet high. There were several occasions when Bob would return home to find a big pile of rocks for the wall in his driveway, uprooted from the hill behind his home by kids and grandkids, with a birthday or Father's Day card secured on top. He baked his favorite pineapple upside-down cakes (made the "right" way) and enormous batches of banana bread. Bob and Be traveled often, going to visit family and friends around the country, and also to World War II reunions with Bob's Hinsdale shipmates. 

Bob spent many hours in his workshop, building everything from snake cages to cat condos to beehives to a scaled-down replica of Noah's Ark. He made a beautiful curio cabinet for Be and bookshelves and computer desks for his daughters. He repaired and restored chairs and buffets and a century-old rocking horse. Everything Bob built with his huge calloused hands was built to last. The things that he repaired and restored, he found a way to make them stronger, last longer, or work better than when those things were new. All the time we worked with him in that workshop, he told us wonderful stories about his work and his life. 

Along with the joys, there were tragedies. The loss of two beloved grandchildren in 1997 devastated the family, and Bob was our rock. A few years later, Be's major heart attack left her disabled. For the next nine years until her death in 2009, Bob cared for Be at their home and taught us the true meaning of devotion. Bob's health declined over the past several months, and he died Sat., July 21, at Hospice House in Rapid City, surrounded by his children. Preceding him in death were his wife of 66 years, Bernadine; grandchildren, Deric Dietrich, Dawn Dietrich Krutzky and her husband, Joseph Krutzky; son-in-law Dallas Dietrich; and his brothers and their wives, Kenneth and Harriet, Jean and Maxine, and Leo and Zetta Phillip. He is survived by his children, Janice (Archie) Lawrence, Alliance; Don (Verlene) Phillip and Roberta (Jerry) Upton, Hermosa; Mary Dietrich, Keystone.; and Randall Phillip, Philip; grandchildren Walt and Scott Phillip, Longmont, Colo.; Terry Phillip, Box Elder; Brian Lawrence, Seattle, Wash.; Kyle Lawrence, Elm Creek, Neb.; Desirae Jesse, Murrieta, Calif.; Tom Lawrence, Fountain Hills, Ariz.; Adrian Benham, Castle Rock, Colo.; Elizabeth Williams and Alma "Callie" Upton, Hermosa; and Alex Upton, Ft. Collins, Colo.; great-grandchildren Dayn, Joey and Geoffrey Phillip; Nyx Holaday; Dylan Thompson; Henry, Carter and Emelia Lawrence; Megan and Caitlynn Jesse; Cody Williams; Gemma Upton; and Wynn and Vivian Benham; great-great-granddaughter Serena Holaday; numerous nieces and nephews; and his devoted little dog, Daisy Mae. Memorial services will be 2 p.m. Sat., Aug. 25, at Battle River Masonic Lodge #92 in Hermosa. 

Graveside services will be 2 p.m. Sat., Sept. 15, at the Alliance Cemetery, with reception and fellowship following at the Alliance Masonic Lodge #183. 

Memorials may be made to the Scottish Rite Remodeling Fund, c/o Alliance Lodge #183, P.O. Box 754, Alliance, NE 69301; Battle River Masonic Lodge #92, P.O. Box 392, Hermosa, SD 57744; Meeting the Need (a non-profit organization established by Bob's late son-in-law to benefit the disabled), 13880 Greyhound Gulch Rd., Keystone, SD 57551; or a charity of the donor's choice.

Online guestbook is available at www.osheimschmidt.com

The memorial service:

This pictures shows wooden box made for Bob and Bernadine by son, Don (with the help of Jerry Ellerman, a family friend).


Below are picture boards made by Bob's family for the memorial services:

Below are pictures of Bob through the years...

Information about Bob written by his mother (Alma Phillip)

His mother drew his hand at seven months.

Bob at a very young age.

A little older ~ climbing a fence

The Navy in the 1940's

And the uniform still fit in the 2010's

Bob, roller blading in Idaho in the 1990's

Bob when he visited Sharon and Tony in the California desert with Leo, Ray and Judi and Julie (2010's)

Bob in Dean and Becky's 1928 Model A in Lincoln (2010's)