Remembering Carl Phillips 

By DAVID SWEARINGEN
TheFlashToday.com

The Flash would like to take this opportunity to honor and remember the late Carl Phillips of Stephenville who passed away on March 14, 2006, at the age of 98.  He was loved and respected by everyone that was lucky enough to get to meet him.  

Phillips attended I.M. Terrell High School in Fort Worth and went to work for the newly-created Stephenville Hospital in September 1926 to help support his family.  

“The reason I came to work for the hospital was to try to get enough money to go to college,” Phillips said in 2004. “There were always things that got in the way and that never happened, but I never gave up.”  

Many, many years later, while in his nineties,  Phillips would in fact receive an honorary doctorate from Tarleton State University. 

Although working at the hospital for a career was not his original plan, Phillips worked there for several decades. He was known and loved by many people because he always cared for others, was always helping others. Phillips became an institution at the Stephenville Hospital.  He was a great encourager and a friend to virtually everyone he met. 

Phillips retired on December 31, 1993, and then showed up back at work the very next day as a volunteer.  He continued to work at the hospital for many more years as a volunteer.  In total, Carl Phillips worked for the Stephenville Hospital for about 80 years and always gave of himself.

In addition to being involved in many various volunteer organizations, Phillips was a long time member of the Stephenville Kiwanis Club and served as club president two different times as well as spending six years as the club secretary.  He was on the Habitat for Humanity Board of Trustees and could be found at the job site of the habitat for humanity home on most Saturdays.  He also played the organ at his church. 

He was a huge Stephenville Yellow Jackets fan and never missed a football game – home or away.  As a matter of fact, he said his daughter got onto him and made him stop driving himself to the out of town games because she was concerned about his safety.  He still drove out of town to games when he was in his nineties.  He loved his Yellow Jacket Football.  

Some other interesting facts about Carl Phillips:

• He was an honorary member of the Erath County Bar Association;

• in 2005, he received an honorary doctorate from Tarleton State University;

• he received recognition from former President Clinton in 1998 for his then 72 years of service at the hospital;

• and January 24, 1998, was declared Carl Phillips Day in Stephenville.  Many years later, the hospital even gave him his own reserved parking spot with a sign reading, “Reserved for Carl Phillips.”

The Stephenville Kiwanis Club honored the memory of  Dr. Carl Phillips by setting up the “Stephenville Kiwanis Club Carl Phillips Memorial Nursing Scholarship.”  This scholarship was first awarded in the fall of 2014 to an Erath County native majoring in nursing.  This scholarship will continue to be given to a deserving nursing student each subsequent semester.  An excellent way to honor and remember this great man named Carl Phillips. 

I was lucky and fortunate enough to be able to call this man my friend. 

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