Charles E. Phillips
Charles E. Phillips, 88, died March 12, 2012. He was born in Hamilton on April 11, 1923, to Emmett Russell and Allie Estelle (Combs) Phillips.
A cowboy and a cattleman, he was raised in Llano County, learning farming and ranching at an early age. He attended schools in Valley Spring and graduated from Cherokee High School.
He was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps as a young man and was part of many of their projects, including Rocky Mountain National Park and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado and Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, he served in the Navy during War World II. He was stationed to a seaplane tender, the U.S.S. Pocomoke, in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He was a medic in the ship’s hospital.
After coming back home, he returned to being a cowboy. He was involved with the Barnes Ranch at Lake Buchanan and the Hicks Ranch of Gillespie County.
He met his wife, Margie Dawn Bode, on a trip to the San Angelo Steer Roping and as they say, “The rest is history.”
They would have celebrated their 60th anniversary Aug. 31.
In the late 1950s, the cattle business was not good for a young man with a growing family, so he headed to San Antonio to provide for them. He found work with Quincy Lee Builders for a while and eventually was hired by the Texas Employment Commission (now the Texas Workforce Commission). He worked for the commission until 1978 when he retired and returned to Llano County.
He then worked as a ranch foreman for many years for W.Y. Fowler III. He also helped local rancher Jim Renick, who became a longtime friend.
His retirement years were probably some of the most joyful of his life.
He and his wife moved to Boerne to be closer to his children. It was there that his final illness overtook him. He was a member of the Valley Spring United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his wife Margie; sons Emmett Bruce and wife Linda and Gordon Matthew, all of Boerne; granddaughter Lezley Dawn Webb, her husband Chris and their children Elise, Kimber, Kinsley and Elijah; brother Bill of Hearne; numerous brothers and sisters-in-law; and nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by siblings Sam, Grace, Estelle, Polly, Ollie and Raymond.
A service is 2 p.m. March 17 at Waldrope-Hatfield-Hawthorne Funeral Home, 307 E. Sandstone in Llano, (325) 247-4300, with the Rev. Vicky Troy officiating. Burial will follow at Valley Spring Cemetery.
Condolences may be sent to whhfuneral1@verizon.net or made at www.whhfuneralhome.com.