Nick’s buoyant attitude and gentle tenacity taught his family and friends how to love selflessly and carry on through hardships. His example will be a guide and comfort to those grieving his loss. He was a devoted aquarium enthusiast and played baseball with the Rivermont Dream League. He loved the River Park, his collection of movies and books (especially Cars), horses, and his dog Buster. He was born July 24, 2001 in Chattanooga and is survived by his parents, Kenneth and Sonia Phillips, of Hixson; grandparents, Robert and Jean Phillips, of Hixson; grandmother, May Ruth Hartman, of Red Bank; sister, Emilia Phillips, and her husband, Jeremy Hakes, of Richmond, Va.; and many loving aunts, uncles, and cousins.
The family wishes to thank all of Nicholas’s friends at Rivermont Dream League, Chattanooga Zoo, and Northgate Mall; his special friend Olivia Micka; Dr. Thomas Farmer of Rivermont Presbyterian; Abbie Agnew at Make-a-Wish; the staff at ContinuCare Health Services; the wonderful doctors and nurses at T.C. Thompson’s, particularly the PICU unit, who have taken care of Nicholas for ten years; the doctors at Highland Pediatric; Dr. Rizwan Hamid of Vanderbilt University; Southeastern Orthotics; all of the therapists and teachers who have worked with Nicholas at home, including Debbie Hightower, Janice Jones, Kasha Griffith, Natasha Twiggs, Linda Corder, Donna Hicks; and especially his loving and devoted nurses Misty Fergason and Joed Hutsell.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 pm on Wednesday at the North Chapel.
A service for Nick will be held at 2:30 pm on Thursday at the North Chapel. Burial will follow in Hamilton Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers or food, the family requests donations be made to the Propionic Acidemia Foundation, 1963 McCraren Road, Highland Park, IL 60035, and T.C. Thompson’s Children’s Hospital Foundation, 910 Blackford Street, Chattanooga, TN 37403.
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343.
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