Obit: Phillips, Frank Ernest (1924 - 2018)

Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Bachleda, Ballweg, Bryant, Dobrowolski, Ette, Fitzgerald, Frentz, Gronski, Hoover, Jeffries, Kahut, Livingston, Martindale, Neis, Nord, Phillips, Preston, Purintun, Sharp, Strobl, Versteegen

----Source: The Ladysmith News (Ladysmith, WI) 10/16/2018

Phillips, Frank Ernest (24 JUN 1924 - 12 OCT 2018)

Frank Ernest Phillips, age 94, passed away on the morning of Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, due to complications of Parkinson’s disease at Hyland Crossings in Sun Prairie.

The third of ten children, Frank was born on June 24, 1924 in Indianapolis, Ind., to Mathew and Iva Pearl (Bryant) Phillips. During the Depression, the family moved in 1931 to the Ladysmith area where they farmed. In 1938 they moved to a farm near Tony, and in 1940 to a farm south of Weyerhaeuser. Frank graduated the top of his class in 1942 from Weyerhaeuser High School.

After high school, Frank got a job at a creamery in Juneau. After his father’s death in 1944, Frank took over the family dairy farm and supported his seven younger siblings. He married Sonna Mae Purintun on April 30, 1947 in Chetek. They continued to farm until 1996 when they sold the farm and moved to Cameron. In 2017 they moved to Sun Prairie.

Frank was an avid reader of newspapers, history, biography and good novels. He loved discussing the issues of the day and playing the devil’s advocate. He enjoyed baseball, football, bowling and golf, often discussing sports with his brothers. He enjoyed thinking “out of the box”. He loved sketching old farmsteads and baseball players, snacking on chocolate-covered nuts and freshly roasted Spanish peanuts, dancing with his wife at old dance halls and imbibing a few whiskey sours.

Frank is survived by his wife of 71 years, Sonna; his children, Jacqueline Martindale (Jerry Neis, partner) and Faye Sharp Phillips, both of Sun Prairie, Gary (Sandy Gronski) Phillips of Chetek, Rick Phillips (Barb Jeffries, partner) of Cincinnati, Ohio and Wayne and (Pamela Preston) Phillips of Hudson; his grandchildren, Matthew (Heather) Martindale, Meagan Strobl, Travis (Yuko) Phillips, Tracy Phillips, Bryant Phillips, Bennett (Dawn) Phillips, Kelli Hoover, Sean Sharp, Katie Preston (Yohn Versteegen), Eli Phillips and Lisa (Dan) Ballweg and 10 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers, John Phillips of Stamford, Conn. and James (Dorothy) Phillips of Grand Rapids, Mich.; his sisters, Frances Dobrowolski of Chetek and Sarasota, Fla., Rachel (Richard) Livingston of Davis, Calif., Marjorie Fitzgerald of Phillips and Patricia Kahut of Minong; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.

Preceding him in death were his parents; his sisters, Mary Jane Ette, Catherine Bachleda and Gertrude “Trudy” Frentz; and his infant brother, Marion.

Funeral services will be held at noon on Friday, Oct. 19 at Maranatha Ev. Free Church in Rice Lake with Pastor Tony Nord officiating. Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. Thursday at the Rausch-Lundeen Funeral Home in Cameron and also for the hour prior to services at the church on Friday.

Interment will be at Lakeview Cemetery in Chetek.

Arrangements are with Rausch-Lundeen Funeral Homes, Cameron & Dallas.