Helen Phillips Addington's Obituary
Helen Phillips Addington, whose love for helping others laid the foundation for a life of nurturing, caring, and volunteering, died surrounded by her loving family on Monday, January 7, 2019, at Baptist Hospital East. She was 92. Mrs. Addington was born in Memphis, the daughter of Mildred and Lindsay Phillips. She was christened at Calvary Methodist Church and was a lifelong Methodist. Before graduating from South Side High School, she spotted a handsome upperclassman, Milton Caldwell Addington. She decided that day he would be the man she would marry. And they did in 1947. After high school, Mrs. Addington graduated from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing and started work as a nurse as her husband completed his PhD in clinical and industrial psychology, a career for Dr. Addington that would span 22 years. Although she was a devoted wife and loving mother to their two children, Mrs. Addington continued as nurse for nearly 50 years, and was the recipient of the Baptist Hospital Medical-Surgical Division Award for Excellence in Nursing. Busy with her career and family, Mrs. Addington still found time to volunteer as a Girl Scout leader and to loyally attend Memphis Tiger basketball games. She was a member of King’s Daughters, the Oak & Elm Garden Club, the Noiseful Joys Choir at Emmanuel United Methodist Church, and an active member of Mullins United Methodist Church. Preceded in death by her beloved husband, her brother, Bobby Phillips, and her sister, Elizabeth Phillips Douglas, Mrs. Addington leaves her son, Dr. Brent Addington, and her daughter, Anita Marie Addington, both of Memphis; three grandchildren: Elise Addington Dugger and her husband, Nathan Dugger, of Nashville; Alex Addington of Memphis; and Jonathan Weber of Atlanta; her sister, Marion Phillips Haynes of Memphis; and nieces, nephews, friends and former patients who always will remember Mrs. Addington’s kindness. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, January 10, at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, with services immediately following at 7 p.m. There will be a private family burial on Friday. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, you remember Mrs. Addington with a donation to the Mullins United Methodist St. John’s Food Ministry, 4 N. Mendenhall Rd., Memphis, Tenn. 38117, or Grace Place United Methodist Church, 3476 Summer Ave., Memphis, Tenn. 38122.
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