Walter J. Phelan Jr.'s Obituary
WALTER JOSEPH PHELAN, JR., 86, passed away Thursday, January 28, 2010 at his home. The son of Walter Joseph Phelan and Georgia Saxby Phelan, Walter was born in Memphis, TN on August 13, 1923. He attended Immaculate Conception Grade School and graduated from Christian Brothers High School in 1941. He then served in the Army during WWII and was captured at the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. He was held as a Prisoner of War until the conclusion of the war in Europe. Upon returning to civilian life, he attended Vanderbilt University on the G.I. Bill. After college he went to work for Proctor & Gamble, met and married Carolyn Cooper Phelan and had 5 children. He enjoyed a successful career as a regional sales manager for Proctor & Gamble in Florida and Alabama, and then he returned to Memphis in 1966 to open the first of what would eventually be four convenience stores, Minit Stop Inc. An astute businessman, Walter was blessed with a photographic memory and could recall the families on his boyhood paper route and who was slow to pay! He was a devoted family man who was overjoyed with each grandchild, and relished their visits and loved any opportunity to watch them play sports. His rock solid Catholic faith sustained him and served as an inspiration to everyone, especially as his health waned. He was wheelchair-bound for the last years of his life and continually attended mass on a weekly basis, regardless of the weather or how he was feeling. Mr. Phelan was preceded in death by a son, Price Anthony Phelan, his wife of 55 years, Carolyn Cooper Phelan and five sisters, Ella “Tot” Weems, Alice McCarver, Virginia Phelan, Georgia Nelle Parks and Marge Burke. Surviving are spouse, Jeanne Callahan Roh Phelan; daughter, Juanita Phelan Warthen and her husband, Brad of Columbia, SC; sons Walter Joseph Phelan, III and wife, Cindy, Patrick Cooper Phelan and wife, Tina and Stephen Christopher Phelan and wife, Deenie, all of Memphis as well as 12 beloved grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was a communicant of St. Louis Catholic Church. Visitation will be Sunday, January 31 at Memorial Park Funeral Home from 5-7p.m. with a rosary to follow. A funeral mass will be held at 1:30 pm Monday, February 1st at St. Louis Catholic Church. The family requests any memorials be sent to Birthright of Memphis.
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