William"Bill" Robert Phillips

About Bill

William "Bill" Robert Phillips, a beloved father, grandfather, great grandfather, Air Force veteran and retired insurance agent, died January 28, 2003, in Rockville, MD, at age 80. Bill was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

Bill was born in Stillwater, NJ, to Fred and Anna (Tracey) Phillips. They moved to Dedham, MA, where they raised Bill and his 2 sisters, Josephine and Polly. Bill's father had a U. S. patent for liquid fertilizer and owned a business in Dedham.

Bill got his masters degree in education at Boston College after studying as an undergraduate at Boston College and the Maryknoll Seminary.

While in the masters program, Bill met his future wife, Barbara Ann Roche, who was also studying for a graduate degree in education. Typical of Bill, he used humor in his opening line, asking Barbara if she was ready for a test that day. Barbara was a bit rattled, unaware of any impending tests. Turned out, Bill was just pulling her leg. He somehow managed to convince Barbara to go on a date, despite his awkward start.

Bill and Barbara married on September 2, 1950, in Boston.

They raised seven children, mostly in the Washington, D.C. area, where they moved after living in Japan in 1953-1954. Bill was stationed there with the U.S.Air Force, doing top-secret military intelligence work during the Korean War. Severe medical problems forced Bill to spend time in a hospital in Tokyo and later take a medical discharge.

Bill was a man of deep faith who entered the seminary right out of high school, planning to be a priest. He attended Catholic Mass on a daily basis for most of his life.

Bill’s children have fond memories of their dad driving the Greenbelt, MD, nuns to Mass and then taking the kids to pick up discarded pop cans to cash in at a local recycling site. Bill was truly an environmentalist long before it became a common term.

It was in Greenbelt where Bill began his civilian public service, serving as a city council member in the early 1960's. Beside selling insurance, Bill, who was fluent in several languages, taught at the Berlitz School of Languages to help support his family.

In 1963, needing a bigger house to accommodate a family that had grown to nine, and wanting to expose their children to a more diverse community, Bill and Barbara moved to a large duplex in N.W. Washington, D.C.

The six-bedroom home at 3909 McKinley Street was just two blocks below the D.C./MD border at Chevy Chase Circle.

Bill continued his public service in D.C., which he called home for most of the the next several decades. In 1974, Bill was the Republican nominee for D.C. Congressional Delegate. Being a Republican in a heavily Democratic city, and in the year of the Watergate political scandal, he knew he had no chance of winning. But he felt a strong sense of civic duty that prompted him to raise issues of concern to him, his community and his political party.

Bill's other community efforts included coordinating a successful effort to build a swimming pool at Woodrow Wilson High School in D.C. He also spent many years as a member of the Friendship Lion's Club, serving as president and often transporting donors' eyes for transplants.

Bill's children have fond memories of the frequent trips he took them on to see the monuments in the nation's capitol, including visits to Arlington National Cemetery to visit President John Kennedy's gravesite. President Kennedy was assassinated the same month Bill and his family moved to D.C., and his funeral service was held at St. Matthew's Cathedral, where Bill and his family often attended Sunday Mass.

Barbara passed away on September 1, 2019 and is buried with him at Arlington National Cemetery.

Bill's siblings, Josephine and Polly, also have died. Bill’s survivors include his seven children, Caroline Rhodes (Jack) of Petaluma, CA; Mary Anders of Rockville, MD; Catherine Walrod (Jim) of Baldwin, MD; Michael Phillips of San Francisco, CA; Susan Fitzpatrick (Jim) of Huntersville,NC; Matt Phillips (Amy) of Germantown, MD; and and Gregory Phillips of Bethesda, MD. Survivors also include 14 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

life story

A loving father, military veteran, dedicated public servant...and much more

Bill, along with his wife, Barbara, raised seven spirited children. They are, from left, Matt, Michael, Mary, Caroline, Cathy, Susan and Greg.