Gerald Eugene Phillips

Gerald was born on December 7, 1931, to Jesse C. Phillips and Gladys Turner Phillips, in Omaha, Nebraska. He grew up in Council Bluffs, Iowa. As a young adult, Gerald had several jobs, among them working for the Union Pacific Railroad and teaching dance at Arthur Murray Studios, before joining the US Army in 1951. He was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. At church choir practice he noticed a beautiful blue-eyed girl, and finagled an introduction. She was Carolyn Louise Sherman, from Gainesville, Florida, working as a Department of Army civilian in Heidelberg. He loved her Southern accent and she loved his sparkling personality. They were married in 1954 once their tours of service were complete, and began married life in Des Moines, Iowa. They reached their 67th wedding anniversary on September 13, just before his rapid decline.

Gerald took advantage of the GI Bill and began studying at Drake University. He was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He was to receive both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice in only 4 years! By this time, the couple had added daughters Pamela and Sandra to their family. After Gerald’s graduation they moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he served as professor of voice and music history at William Carey College. He also directed choirs at several small churches. Soon after son Michael joined the family, another move was planned. The family moved to Florida, where Gerald and Carol Lou would settle for good in Tallahassee. Their youngest daughter Rebecca was born in 1968, rounding out the family.

Gerald began doctoral studies at Florida State University in 1961, and taught Humanities as a grad student. Some of his favorite students were FSU football players. This was the beginning of Gerald’s love of FSU football. He became a Seminole booster and was later recognized at a football game for fifty years of loyalty. He also loved throwing the football with family, and was well known for the speed with which he delivered the ball.

To supplement the family’s income in the 1960’s, Gerald began working long distance with his father-in-law, Harley B. Sherman, making the world-renowned Sherman Live Animal Traps, designed to capture animals alive and unhurt, mostly for scientific research or environmental population studies. They also do a fine job of catching the random rodent in a house! The family’s garages never housed cars inside; rather, they were transformed into workshops, where some of Gerald’s FSU students began working for him. They made sure to take occasional breaks to go outside to throw the football. In 1975 Dr. Sherman sold the business to Gerald, who ran it for 46 years until selling the business to daughter Rebecca in 2021, keeping it all in the family. During his leadership, the business was incorporated, began extensive international sales, and Gerald developed his signature trap, the XLK, especially made to avoid hurting the long tail of the kangaroo rat. The company’s extraordinary commitment to making excellent products is well known.

Gerald was a life long entertainer. With his beautiful tenor voice, he loved singing for the glory of God, and directed the choir at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee for 25 years. He also enjoyed performing in and directing musicals with the local acting troupe, Entertainment Plus. Some memorable roles were Marryin’ Sam in L’il Abner, The First Lord in H.M.S. Pinafore, Mame’s husband, Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, in the musical Mame, and roles in Annie Get Your Gun, Once Upon A Mattress, and other productions. Gerald directed the music and orchestra for the production of Fiddler on the Roof. But perhaps his most beloved performance was singing the Lord’s Prayer at son Michael’s wedding to his wife Joan.

Gerald was also a consummate joke teller, even regaling family with complicated jokes from his hospital bed. He loved a good pun, and anyone who was able to get a good hearty laugh out of Gerald found it deeply satisfying. His generosity was legendary. Family and friends, as well as strangers, were the recipients of his gifts.

Gerald was a devout Christian, living his faith by studying the Bible, teaching his children and grandchildren and many others about Christ, and quizzing them along the way. He taught adult Sunday school classes, and so enjoyed dissecting Bible verses that he once taught the book of Hebrews for three years…and still didn’t finish the book! For 5 years in the 1960s he taught a Bible class at the Federal Correctional Institute in Tallahassee. His faith permeated his life.

Gerald is survived by his wife, Carol Lou, and their four children and spouses: Pamela Fitzgerald (Casey), Sandra Screws (Bruce), Michael Phillips (Joan), and Rebecca Colon (Michael); his sisters: Donna Rae Carriker and Beverly Jensen (Don); his grandchildren: Bruce, Jr. (Allison) and Trevor Screws (Bonnie); Brian, Jr. (Melissa) and Sean Fitzgerald (Emily); Preston, Cameron & Josie Phillips; and his great-grandchildren: Jane & Anna Screws, and Evelyn & Brian, III Fitzgerald; and numerous nieces and nephews scattered around the country.

Gerald Phillips was a man of deep faith, a devoted husband and father, a friend to many, a stickler for good grammar, a marvelous and enthusiastic dancer, a talented singer and entertainer. A lifelong student, he had an enormous wealth of information in his magnificent brain and thrived on intellectual discussions with many people that he met. He was ready to go home to the Lord, and although he will be sorely missed, he will always be remembered with abiding love and joy.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to Big Ben Hospice Foundation, 1723 Mahan Center Blvd., Tallahassee , FL 32308 or to Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862.

Visitation will be held at 10am on Thursday, September 30, 2021 at Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home, 700 Timberlane Road with funeral services beginning at 11am. Interment will follow at MeadowWood Memorial Park.