Walter M. Phillips, Jr.

He grew up on his parents’ dairy farm east of Tallahassee and attended local public schools. Mr. Phillips was a graduate of Florida State University, where he was president of his Fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

After college, Mr. Phillips entered the Navy during the Korean War and served as a Lieutenant and Engineering Officer on the Battleship Wisconsin.

After his military service, he worked in the housing and redevelopment field, in Virginia and North Carolina, and was an officer in both the state of North Carolina and Southeastern Regional Councils of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment. Mr. Phillips was also a realtor and home builder in Virginia and North Carolina and served as president of the Union County Home Builders Association. He was proudly named Builder of the Year in Union County.

After he retired, he “came back home” to Tallahassee to be reacquainted with family and many old friends and acquaintances. In Tallahassee, he was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church and the Exchange Club of Tallahassee. Bud, as he is known by friends, was an avid outdoorsman who loved to fish and hunt - particularly quail, turkey and doves. His main fishing partner was George Walker, whom he has known since the age of four. The two of them, along with other cousins and friends grew up on the Wacissa River, where they visited camps started by their ancestors. He also enjoyed duck and goose hunting on Back Bay, Virginia, where he lived with his wife and kids in his younger years. Mr. Phillips loved to sail and spent many enjoyable outings in Virginia and later, on Lake Norman, near Charlotte, NC.

Mr. Phillips is survived by his sister, Mrs. Jeanne (Dee) Tallman, three daughters and son: Margaret Stuart Phillips, Patricia Teofilak (husband James), Leigh Bellardini (husband Daniel) and Walter M. Phillips III (wife Kelli). There are also five grandchildren: Jessica Shanks, Alex Teofilak, Coleman Teofilak, Lauren Bellardini, Carson Bellardini and one great grandson, Griffin Shanks (and predeceased grandson Maxwell Shanks).

Family and friends are invited to attend funeral services for Walter to be held at the Old City Cemetery in Tallahassee, FL, on Saturday, May 20th, at 11:00am. A reception celebrating Walter’s life will be held at Trinity Methodist Church in Tallahassee, immediately following the graveside service.

If you wish to make a donation, in lieu of flowers, please do so to Big Bend Hospice of Tallahassee.