Minna Phillips Ulmer MD

Minna was born on September 12,1950 to George William "Bill" Phillips and Geraldine Minna Harbeson "Gerry" Phillips of Greenwood, MS. Minna graduated from Greenwood High School in 1968. She attended Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, GA, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, where she was a member of Phi Mu Sorority, and Sienna College, Memphis, TN. Minna received her B.S. degree in physical therapy from Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA (now VCU) in 1973 and practiced physical therapy for five years in Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.

She married Richard E. "Rick" Ulmer on November 16, 1974, and they have been married almost 49 years. Minna started medical school in 1978 at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS ("UMMC") and received her M.D. degree from there in 1982. She completed a combined internship and residency in anesthesiology at UMMC in 1985.

Minna practiced anesthesiology in El Dorado for 28 years (from 1985 until 2013), first at Warner Brown Hospital ("Warner Brown"), then at Union Memorial Hospital ("Union"), and then after Warner Brown and Union merged, with Medical Center of South Arkansas ("MCSA") (now South Arkansas Regional Hospital). During her tenure at MCSA, Minna held the following positions: chief of anesthesia (14 years); chief of medical staff (2 years); vice chief of medical staff (2 years); clinical instructor AHEC Family Medicine Residency (14 years); and served on the following committees: medical staff executive committee (6 years); credentials committee (10 years); and peer review committee (10 years). She established a pain management clinic in 1993. She was board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine.

Preceding Minna in death are her above-mentioned parents. Survivors include her husband Rick and their five children: Jeff (Jenn); Barbara (Cody); Sara; Amy; and David (Shardonnay); two grandchildren: Emma Ulmer and Mia Ulmer; Minna's only sibling - Martha Phillips Catlette (Jack) of Oxford, Mississippi; and numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws.

Minna was kind, joyful and hard working. She loved to travel, loved art, music of every genre, water skiing, snow skiing, canoeing, kayaking, and deepsea diving. She loved her family and loved practicing medicine. Minna's life was a life well lived.

The family wishes to especially thank her caregivers, Conswaley Bradley and Shakilra Wade, Hospice, Tiffany Lucas, and her neurologist, Meghan Harris of Shreveport, Louisiana.

A celebration of Minna's life will be at 11am, Saturday, October 21, 2023 in the Chapel of Young's Funeral Directors with Dr. Walter "Bubba" Smith officiating with a reception following at St. Mary's Parish Hall.

You may honor Minna's life with a donation to any charity of your choice.

Condolences for the Ulmer family can be expressed online at www.youngsfuneralhome.com.