|
| |
Virginia June
Phillips
©Roberts &
Hart Funeral Home
June 7, 1930 ~ June 8, 2021
Submitted by Jan Grooms
Virginia June Phillips was born June 7,
1930. The stars fell for Virginia in her youth. We know this because she
penned her life story for the family over a decade ago. In the memoir she
recounted how, after her mother's death, she was walking to the grocery
store at night when thousands of meteors began to rain down from the sky. It
was a phenomenon she only witnessed once in her lifetime. "I thought the
world was ending," she wrote. The world was not ending that night, but for a
twelve-year-old girl who had just been left motherless, the world was
altered forever. She would accompany her mother's body by train back to
Westville, Oklahoma, where she had deep family roots.
Virginia's memoir is singular in that she
focused not on herself but on the joy and passion revealed in her
extraordinary lifetime, even in the midst of great struggle. She wrote of
the delight she experienced when her family stopped to camp alongside the
road as they headed out West in the great Okie migration. Her mother cooked
a single pan of fried potatoes for the family. Virginia remembered it to be
one of the best dishes she ever tasted.
One of Virginia's greatest gifts was her
hospitality. She must have learned this from her folks, as they took in any
and all Okie migrants who showed up in California, hungry and dejected. They
didn't just feed people at their lowest moments, they celebrated with them,
playing the fiddle and dancing into the late hours of the night. Any person
who ever entered Virginia's home knows how she welcomed you in with deep
affection and served up a cup of coffee or a milkshake, alongside any kind
of snack you could dream up. She made magic in her kitchen and she loved to
serve people. This is the true nature of a Jesus follower. You recognize
yourself to be a servant to the divine beings surrounding you. You love all
people as you love yourself, which means you give all people your best.
Leftovers are not good enough.
In the realm of service, she took great
delight in all little children, and little children were likewise drawn to
her like fireflies to the light. The child of her youth continued to thrive
in her heart throughout adulthood and children immediately recognized that
in her. She spoke to each one as though they were the most important human
being on earth, God's greatest miracle. When you speak to people in this way
they begin to believe that they matter, too, regardless of their station in
life. It is a wonderful, powerful, world-changing gift, and of this, she was
a master.
Virginia's laugh was contagious. Anytime the
phone rang she picked up the receiver laughing with joy before any words
were ever exchanged. It wasn't possible to encounter her presence and not
smile, no matter the day or the circumstance. This was just one of her many
fruits from the Holy Spirit. Virginia Phillips yielded all the fruit, all
the time. Her relationship with Jesus was so intimate, so personal, that she
baked a birthday cake for Him every year at Christmas where the family would
gather around and sing Happy Birthday to her personal savior. She spoke and
sang to Jesus from the time she woke up to the time she went to sleep, in
continuous praise and prayer.
No account of Virginia Phillips and her life
can be complete without Jiggs Phillips. If anyone ever tells you there is no
such thing as love at first sight, just remember this. Virginia and Jiggs
first laid eyes on each other in Westville as teenagers and thank God, from
the blessed time of that first encounter, the fountain of their unification
overflowed, not only on this family, but on this town, this county, the
world entire. When she drew her last breath a picture of Jiggs lay on the
pillow next to her. It had remained there for the last twenty years since
his death. We can't help but believe they are reunited in some way.
It was not lost on us that Virginia was
released from this world in the time of the Ring of Fire eclipse.
Johnny Cash wrote, "The taste of love is
sweet When hearts like ours meet I fell for you like a child Oh, but the
fire went wild"
The love Virginia had for her family and the
community was sweet and it spread like wildfire wherever she went -
Westville Public Schools, Sunday School, the School Board, her prison
ministry - her love could not be contained. It was wildfire. We rejoice.
At Virginia's death, our sweet Rochelle
Lewis sang her over to the far bank of the river with "I'll Fly Away". She
departed on June 8, 2021, surrounded by her loving family and it had to be
thus, as family was her life's greatest ambition. We rejoice, for it is
nothing short of a miracle to have been taught how to love from One such as
this. We go back out into the world now to show all whom we encounter these
mysterious things we have witnessed.
Virginia Phillips was preceded in death by
her parents, Frank and Bessie Henderson, her sister Yvonne Walborn, her
husband, Harold "Jiggs" Phillips, and her daughter Deana Cooper. She is
survived by her beloved sons, Clark and Cheryl Phillips of Westville, Stan
and Gail Phillips of Proctor, and Robert Cooper of Wagoner. A host of
blessed grandchildren and great-grandchildren shout praises for her and
continue to encounter her in their dreams, even in the days after her death.
The world has not ended but it is altered forever.
Graveside Service for Virginia Phillips was
held Monday, June 14, 2021, 2:00 PM at the Westville City Cemetery,
Westville, OK under the direction of Roberts & Hart Funeral Home, Westville,
OK.
This page was updated: Thursday, 09-Sep-2021 23:17:57 EDT
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.