William Seaton Phillips' Obituary
William S. (Bill) Phillips, BSBA, MBA, PhD, CPCU, CLU, ARM, businessman, educator, musician, and former Memphis resident for over sixty years, passed away on January 26, 2018 in Lafayette, LA, after a brief illness. He was 92.Bill was born in St Louis, MO in 1925 to William Bryan Phillips and Mary Anderson Phillips. His mother died of complications from the birth; and Bill was raised by his aunt, Hazel Connely, a widow with six children. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in St Louis in 1943 and enlisted in the US Marine Corps, serving in the Pacific Ocean theater during World War II, including the battle of Okinawa, and attained the rank of corporal. After the war, he returned to St Louis, married June L. Rolando, and attended Washington University, where he received his BS Degree in Business Administration. In 1949; Bill took a job with (General) Motors Insurance Corp in their Memphis office and moved his wife and new son, Daniel Bryan Phillips, to the city. In 1958, Bill started his own independent insurance agency, Phillips Fire & Casualty. He received a Masters In Business Administration from Memphis State University (University of Memphis) in 1964 and was asked by the dean of the business school to teach there part-time and help develop their Risk Management and Insurance major. Over the years, while still operating his agency, he became a tenured professor at the university, received a Ph.D from the University of Southern California, and later several professional degrees including Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, Chartered Life Underwriter, and Associate in Risk Management. His son, Dan, joined the agency in 1983. Bill retired from the university in 1994 and from the insurance business in 2004.Also an accomplished pianist and organist, Bill was a member of the Memphis chapter of the American Guild of Organists and worked part-time for many years as a substitute church organist. His hobbies included acting in musical productions at Theatre Memphis, collecting art, and traveling the world. He was preceded in death by his parents, aunt, cousins and wife. His survived by his son, daughter-in-law, Jeanne Plaisance, and step-granddaughter, Marie Kimball, who live in Lafayette, LA.Visitation will be on Friday, February 9, 2018, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, with the service there Saturday February 10, 2018 at 1:00 PM. Private entombment will follow in Memorial Park Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, please help support the Beethoven Club of Memphis, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Theatre Memphis, Playhouse on the Square, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, WKNO and WEVL.
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