GERALD ALLEN “ZERO” PHILLIPS
Services: 2 p.m. Sunday, July 22, Prairie Chapel United Methodist Church, Urbana, Mo. Burial in Cross Timbers Cemetery, Cross Timbers, Mo., under the direction of Hathaway-Peterman Funeral Home, Wheatland, Mo.
The Rev. Jeff Cole will officiate.
Escorts will be Mike Hedrick, Jim Warnol, Dave Callahan, Carl Gisselbeck, Jeremy Anthony and Dwayne Thompson.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, TN 38101-9908.
Gerald Allen “Zero” Phillips, 69, of Cross Timbers was born June 7, 1949, the son of Homer and Geraldine Phillips. He died July 19, 2018, at Mercy Hospital, Springfield, Mo., after battling MDS and leukemia.
He grew up in Cross Timbers. After graduating from Skyline High School, he attended electronics school in Des Moines, Iowa, where he met his wife, Cathy Leake.
They were united in marriage Dec. 27, 1970.
He served a year and a half in Germany in the U.S. Army. After his service, they returned to Cross Timbers, where they raised their family.
He was employed by Missouri State Parks for 34 years. He loved his job, co-workers and meeting so many people in the different parks.
He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and shared his faith with many people, making himself not just a fisherman, but also a fisher of men.
He enjoyed fishing and mushroom hunting, and could spend hours in the woods picking wild violets for his wife. He enjoyed visiting with all people and never met a stranger. His priorities in life were his faith, family and friends, never turning down the opportunity to help anyone. He especially enjoyed being "Papa" to his grandson, Gordon.
Survivors include his wife, Cathy Phillips; son, Allen Phillips, Cross Timbers; daughter, Jamie Pence and husband, Jadd, Archie, Mo.; grandson, Gordon Phillips and wife, Sarah; two brothers: Homer Loyd Phillips and Victor Phillips, both of Cross Timbers; and many other relatives.
