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“IN HONOR OF MURRY ORMAND PHILLIPS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H8284 on Sept. 27, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN HONOR OF MURRY ORMAND PHILLIPS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, Harnett County and the town of Coats lost one of its most indefatigable education, civic, and business leaders with the death on May 16, 2000, of Murry Ormand Phillips. His lifetime resume of accomplishments could well do credit to 10 men.
Born in 1913 in a Mississippi county that the U.S. Department of Commerce ranked the poorest in the entire United States, Mr. Phillips turned to education as a way out, eventually gaining entrance to Mississippi State University, where he graduated with a degree in vocational agriculture and a commission as a 2d Lieutenant in the Army Reserve. His graduation came in the midst of the Great Depression when jobs were almost nonexistent. The university placement center offered one opportunity--a teaching job in far off Coats, NC. Mr. Phillips set off for North Carolina and a lifelong love affair with his adopted state.
The teaching job in Coats turned out to be teaching vocational agriculture at Coats High School in the mornings and vocational agriculture in Angier in the afternoons. Mr. Phillips proved very popular with his students, so much so that one student introduced the teacher to a sister, Kathryn Stewart Smith. The two young people were married a year later. The marriage was to produce a daughter and a son. Mrs. Phillips died in 1998.
Mr. Phillips' career was interrupted by World War II. He entered active duty on February 14, 1942, barely 2 months after Pearl Harbor. He was to serve under Gen. George S. Patton and Gen. Mark Clark and see action in North Africa and Italy. He participated in the landing of Allied forces on Anzio Beach.
His military record was a distinguished one. Mr. Phillips was a liaison officer, company commander, and a headquarters executive officer, among other assignments. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the American and Silver Star, European Service medals, the Legion of Merit Award, a Presidential Unit Citation, six campaign stars and two commendations for meritorious service, one from the Army and one from the Navy. One citation for battlefield merit detailed how Mr. Phillips ``disregarded his personal welfare and safety by carrying'' a message ``through artillery fire in an exposed one-fourth ton truck.'' He also received an Army commendation for his teaching methods in training tank commanders. After the war, Mr. Phillips came home to Coats. He remained a member of the Army Reserve, eventually retiring as a Major.
But it was to be in his chosen profession, education, that Mr. Phillips would make his greater contribution. Almost immediately upon his return to Coats, he began a night carpentry class for veterans. More than 1,500 veterans were to pass through that carpentry class. He and his agricultural students constructed a new agricultural building and later built and operated a cannery on the school grounds for use by the community every summer.
Mr. Phillips' educational career had many highlights. He taught vocational agriculture in Harnett County for more than 28 years, worked for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for more than 10 years as a curriculum specialist and supervisor for curriculum development, and designed the course of study for several divisions in vocational education. He wrote, photographed, and developed a fourth grade curriculum for the study of North Carolina that included a resume of six sound color filmstrips with a teacher's text and guide to utilization. He worked closely with NC State University, an institution from which he received the Master's Degree in 1958, over a period of 25 years and supervised some 100 student teachers during that period.
He received many honors for his activities. He received the Honorary American Farmer Degree in 1958, the highest honor that a vocational agriculture instructor can receive. He won the Teacher of Teachers Silver Award in 1968 from the National Vocational Agricultural Teachers Association. Former students established an ``M.O. Phillips Scholarship'' in 1966, and a day was set aside in Coats as M.O. Phillips Day with a large celebration and life story at the Coats school. This scholarship is given each year to an outstanding student who has been accepted to attend a four-year college or university. North Carolina State University award him its ``Outstanding Alumni Award'' posthumously in 1999-2000.
Mr. Phillips was active in all agriculture associations as well as the North Carolina Association of Educators and the National Education Association. One of his enduring gratifications was that he was a member of the Future Farmers of America nominating committee that nominated Jim Hunt for FFA president. Hunt won, then later went on to serve as North Carolina Governor for 16 years.
Under Mr. Phillips' leadership, the Coats FFA chapter won more honors than any other chapter in North Carolina. The chapter received the
``Gold Service Award'' twice, the highest award given by the national organization. A total of 23 Future Farmers received the ``American Farmer Degree,'' under Mr. Phillips' leadership.
Mr. Phillips was executive secretary of Meredith Publishing Company's Successful Farmers Teaching Aids for 13 years. As executive secretary, he recommended to the publisher what aides were to be published monthly and from those recommendations would prepare the monthly teaching aid kits which Successful Farming mailed to some 5,000 vocational education teachers each month. A lover of roses, he was the publication's rose editor for 13 years.
In 1994, Governor Hunt gave Mr. Phillips the ``Governor's Volunteer Award'' for his activities. Those activities included service to the American Legion, the Lions Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Coats Development Group, and the Coats Senior Citizens Center, as well as numerous other civic endeavors. Mr. Phillips was founding member of the Coats Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He was named ``Coats Man of the Year'' in 1983 and was a grand marshal of the Coats 85th Farmers Day Parade in 1997. He was also a charter member of the Coats Lions Club and the Coats Senior Citizens Center.
A member of Coats Baptist Church for 64 years, Mr. Phillips taught Sunday school for 45 years and was Sunday school superintendent for 26 years. He was a deacon for 40 years and chairman of the Baptist Men for 11 years. He served as a tour escort for a tour group formed at the church and made some 30 trips with the group. He was a popular speaker in both Methodist and Baptist churches in North Carolina and in his home state of Mississippi.
Mr. Phillips survivors include one daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn S. and Ben Spears of Greensboro; one son and daughter-in-law, Murry T. and Dora Phillips of Dunn; one sister, Evelyn Collier, five grandchildren and one great granddaughter.
If an individual's role is to leave the world a better place than he found it, Murry Ormand Phillips did an inestimable job. When his country was threatened, he rallied to the colors. When courage was called for, he responded. When his community needed vision, he supplied it. When students needed inspiration, he offered it. When children needed an adult model from whom they could learn, he was always available.
Coats and North Carolina have lost an outstanding citizen. But we can thank a Kind Providence that placed us on the same highway of life as this good man.
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