James Phillips

James Charles Phillips, 81, passed away peacefully, on January 3, 2019 at Overland Park Regional Medical Center. He was born on August 12, 1937 in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the youngest child of George & Ada (Rickman) Phillips.

He joined the United States Navy at the age of 17, and served our country for four years as a helicopter radio technician. After leaving the Navy, he worked for RCA as a field service representative in Okinawa & Puerto Rico. He married Mary Jacqueline Sobacke on June 3, 1961. They had four children, Janice, Jim, Tim & Jenny. He attended the University of Missouri at Rolla, then he finished his education by earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

He worked for McDonnell Aircraft on the Mercury space program as a reliability engineer, and then worked at Sylvania Electric & the Holophane Corporation as a sales engineer, which brought him and his family to the Kansas City area for the next 27 years. He received many sales achievement awards as a top sales professional for the Holophane Corporation. He was involved in many charitable initiatives associated with the Overland Park, Kansas Rotary Club and President of the Eureka Springs, Arkansas Rotary Club. He retired from the Holophane Corporation in 2000, and he and his wife, Jackie, moved to the Table Rock Lake area at Holiday Island, Arkansas. After 16 years, they left Holiday Island, Arkansas, and returned back to the Kansas City area.

He is survived by his wife, Jackie; his daughter, Janice (Jerry) Myers of Overland Park, Kansas; his son, Jim Phillips of Kansas City, Missouri; his son, Tim (Jill) Phillips of Olathe, Kansas; his daughter, Jenny (Pat) Jesse of Overland Park, Kansas; his grandson, Nick Phillips of Chicago, Illinois; his grandson, Tony Phillips of Atlanta, Georgia; his granddaughter, Alexandra (Michael) Petry of Omaha, Nebraska; his granddaughter, Natalie Phillips of Kansas City, Missouri; his granddaughter, Jenny Lee Phillips of Los Angeles, California; his grandson, Noah Jesse of Overland Park, Kansas; his grandson, Quinn Jesse of Overland Park, Kansas and his grandson, Liam Jesse of Overland Park, Kansas.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11a.m. on Friday, January 11, 2019 at the Wesley Chapel at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, 13720 Roe Avenue, Leawood Kansas. Visitation will be at 10a.m. and a luncheon at the Student Center will follow after the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to SAFEHOME: A Kansas City domestic abuse service & shelter, P.O. Box 4563, Overland Park, KS 66204, 913-432-9302, www.safehome-ks.org or UPLIFT: A basic needs & compassion provider for the Kansas City homeless, 1516 Prospect, Kansas City, MO 64127, 816-241-0060, www.uplift.org .