Hard work and wit

Friends, family members remember Lillian Phillips

By Jeff Waters, Democrat Reporter

jeff.waters@gaflnews.com



Lillian Lee Howell Phillips, who passed away last month at the age of 96, was as well known for her work ethic as for her sharp wit.

Phillips and her late husband, J. Marvin Phillips, a former Live Oak mayor, founded Suwannee Laundry Company on East Howard Street more than 70 years ago.

The hours were long to say the least, daughter LeNelle Morgan, of Live Oak, said Tuesday.

“She would go to work from 5:30 in the morning until 5:30 at night. She told us (her children) that she was disappointed in our work ethic because we retired,” Morgan laughed.

Morgan said her mother used to love working in her garden and yard as well.

“She had spotlights around her house so she could get up and work in the yard before going to work everyday,” she said.

It was a routine she maintained up until last year, somewhat to the amazement of her neighbors.

Another daughter, Sarah Skinner of Albany, Ga., said she remembers a neighbor saying that he and his wife would sit on their porch drinking coffee watching Phillips work in the yard. When she stopped they knew it was time to leave for work.

Morgan said her mother was an independent woman before that was fashionable. “She set off to all kinds of places,” Morgan remembered. “Back in those days you were not supposed to do that (as a woman), she was so liberated.”

Morgan remembers that one time her father was backing a candidate for governor that he knew pretty well. “Mom didn’t like him so there were many discussions,” she said.

Morgan said when her father put a political sign in the front yard supporting his choice, her mother put up her own sign representing a different candidate.

Morgan said she misses her mother but not the pain she suffered from the cancer that took her life. Morgan said this was her mother’s third bout with cancer.

Phillips was a member of First United Methodist Church on South Ohio Avenue. The sanctuary is on the second floor and you have to take either the stairs or the elevator.

“Mom always took the stairs,” said Morgan. “She said the elevator was for old people.”

Jim Wade, Phillips’ pastor, recalled her “sense of humor and strength of character.”

Skinner remembers her mom as friendly and outgoing.

“She was involved in many school functions, she was president of the PTA and just loved getting involved,” she said.

She also remembers her mother’s wit.

“We were all going out to dinner one time and most of us were past the senior citizen age, and mom said, ‘Now don’t go embarrassing me asking for that senior citizen discount,’” Skinner said.

She noted that her mother was also a great disciplinarian. “If one of us got in trouble at school she would tell us to just wait until we got home,” she said.

Morgan agreed. “The only time she wasn’t laughing and carrying on was when she was spanking,” she said.

Skinner remembers one time that her son was in Hawaii competing in a golf tournament. “Mom really wanted to go so my daughter flew to Hawaii with her,” Skinner said. She said upon arrival her mother was disappointed in the scenery. “She said, ‘My goodness this is no different than Miami,’” Skinner said.

Skinner said her mother was a big fan of the late golfer Payne Stewart.

“She said she liked his flashy clothes,” she noted.

She said her grandson told Stewart that his “nanny” thought Stewart was the second best golfer in the PGA. When Stewart asked him who she thought was number one, he replied, “Me, of course.” Phillips was able to secure a signed photo of Stewart that read, “For nanny. I love you too.”

Phillips ended up in Live Oak by way of train, according to Skinner. She was working in a beauty salon in Jacksonville when she and a friend heard about a beauty shop for sale in Perry. The two hopped on a train but made a stop in Live Oak. That was when Phillips met her future husband, J. Marvin. “I laugh when I tell this story because I tell everyone that dad plucked her off the train,” Skinner said.

Phillips’ son Buddy of Tallahassee, a former Suwannee County sheriff, remembered one Christmas when Phillips, then 88, came to his parents’ North Carolina home for a visit. He and his mother got on a sled and rode down a snow-covered hill.

“She was a lot better than I was at it,” Phillips said Thursday with a laugh. “She wasn’t afraid of anything.”

Buddy Phillips, who served as sheriff from 1969 to 1973, remembered his mother dressing him in a white suit for a birthday party when he was 6.

“I went off down the road with a friend and started chasing cows in a field,” Phillips said.

He said his mother came looking for him in her car. “When I saw her I hid, but she found me,” he said.

Phillips said his mom gave him a spanking, made him take a bath, then gave him another spanking. “I still got to go to the party,” he noted.

Lillian Phillips’ son Joe, of Live Oak, called his mother “a very caring, straightforward and loving woman.” He said she seemed younger than her years — energetic and outgoing.

Phillips worked at the store alongside his parents beginning at 14. He’d come in after school to help out. When his father passed away in 1980 he and his mom assumed responsibility for the business. Joe works at Suwannee Laundry to this day.

Friend Grace Jones said Phillips will be missed “in so many ways.” Jones had known Phillips since 1952 and used to get her hair done by Phillips at her beauty shop, called Lillian’s. The shop was located on a side porch of the Phillips home where First Federal Bank now stands at the corner of US 129 and 11th Street.

“I never seen a woman with as many talents as she,” Jones said of her friend.

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