Stanley E. "Skip" Phillips

Stanley E. "Skip" Phillips of Richland, MI

Skip, age 80 and former Richland Township Fire Chief, died Friday morning, October 28, 2016 at Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo, MI with his loving family at his side.

Skip, the son of Dan A. and Lena (Boven) Phillips, was born in Richland on May 1, 1936; was a lifetime resident and 1955 graduate of the Richland Agricultural High School. He began what would be a lifelong career with the Richland Township Fire Department at the age of 17. After several years, he became the Assistant Fire Chief and then was the Fire Chief from 1978 until his retirement in 1998. Skip's first job was at the Kalamazoo Plug Company, followed by a job at the Kalamazoo Farm Bureau. He continued his agricultural career by going to work with his brother, Art, grinding feed for various farmers. Skip, along with his wife, Rosalie became self-employed in 1960, owning and operating S & E Leasing. They started with two straight trucks; a grain truck hauling for Richland Farm Service and a cattle truck hauling livestock to the Battle Creek Livestock Auction. They also farmed at the Stiles & Phillips Hog Farm during this time. They then went into Semi-trucking, leasing semi's to I.H.S. Distributing Company hauling Miller Lite Beer, amassing four semi's and twelve trailers. They sold the business in the late 1980's and bought a convenience store, Eastside Grocery in Plainwell, MI, finally retiring in the late 1990's. Skip had several hobbies, among them woodworking and restoring old fire trucks.

Skip was united in marriage to Rosalie Jean Penny in Richland on June 1, 1957. Surviving is his wife of 59 years, Rosalie; their daughter, Penny J. (Clark; deceased) Woolf of Richland; their son, Jack A. (Cynthia) Phillips of Richland; four precious grandchildren, Amanda (Ted) Cusack, Andrew (Jacqueline) Woolf, Erika (Matt) Thomas and Casie (fiance Scott Tyler) Phillips; five great grandchildren, Matthew, Joshua, and Samuel Cusack, Dakota Kimbrough and Lylah Thomas. Also surviving is his sister, Margaret Hughes of Portage, MI. Skip was preceded in death by his parents; two sons, Steven in 2004 and Carl in 1959, his son-in-law, Clark E. Woolf; sister, Eleanor "Joyce" Shookman; three brothers, Elmer "Mike", Arthur, and Stephen Phillips, and his brother-in-law, Edgar R. Penny, Jr.

The Memorial Service to celebrate Skip's life will be held on Thursday, November 3rd at 11:00 a.m. at the Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation Care, Richland Chapel, 9170 East D Avenue (M-89) where Skip's family will greet friends from 10:00 a.m. until service time on Thursday. Interment will follow in Prairie Home Cemetery, Richland. Family and friends will continue Skip's life celebration with a time of fellowship and a light luncheon immediately following the committal at the Richland Township Hall and Fire Department, 7401 North 32nd Street, 49083. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Skip's honor may be directed to the Richland Township Fire Association (see address above).