Dr. Robert (Bob) Eugene Phillips Sr, 96, Evansville
Dr. Robert (Bob) Eugene Phillips Sr, 96, of Evansville, Indiana, passed away on August 26, 2025, at his home.
Bob was born in Hardy, Iowa, on May 1, 1929, to the late William Otha and Martha Bernice Phillips.
Bob married the love of his life, Bessie Phillips, who passed away in 2023. He never got over the loss of Bessie.
Our father was a self-made man and created a wonderful life for himself and his family. He came from nothing as a young boy with no resources. He spent part of his childhood (seven and half years) in a Memphis, TN Oakville Sanitarium for malnourished children. At age twelve his father moved the family to Louisiana to become sharecroppers. Bob then spent the next four years, 1942 to 1946, toiling in the cotton fields and corn fields. On his sixteenth birthday, with only four years of formal education, fifth grade through part of the ninth grade, he ran away from home.
A new world opened for him when he joined the U.S. Navy at age seventeen and began a new life of opportunity and achievement. During his eight years in the Navy, Bob served as a Sonarman First Class (SO1), an anti-submarine specialist, aboard the Destroyers U.S.S. Keppler DD-765 and U.S.S. Radford DD-446. He was an Instructor at the U.S. Fleet Sonar School in San Diego, CA. Bob was a combat veteran in the Korean War and served six months as a military advisor to the Italian Navy in Genoa, Italy, and fourteen months for the Nationalist China Navy in Formosa (Taiwan). It was in the Navy that he learned the need for a college education.
Our father did not have an easy childhood; he did not have a high school education and needed to pass a GED program before being accepted into Memphis State. He attended Memphis State University, married the love of his life and started a family. He worked very hard, going to school, working full-time and raising a family. After graduation, the family moved to Davenport, Iowa, where he attended and graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic. For 27 years, he was a very successful Chiropractor in Evansville. Our father had many loyal patients and had a great bedside manner. He would say his greatest achievements in life were his family, his education and military services.
Robert Eugene Phillips Sr was a loving and dedicated father to his six children: Robert “Bobby” Phillips Jr, Laura “Lynn” Epperson, Cynthia “Cindy” Miller (Philip), Kimberly “Kim” Bolling (Brad), Debra “Debbie” Barnes (David).
He is preceded in death by his loving wife of 68 years, Bessie Phillips, and his beloved son, Mark Stephen Phillips, by his parents, William Otha and Martha Bernice Phillips, his brothers, William B Phillips, Kenneth B Phillips, David L. Phillips and Jerry A. Phillips, all of Memphis, TN. Bob is survived by his sister, Rosemary Parker, Sarasota, FL and brothers, Merle W. Phillips, Byhalia, MS and Alan D. Phillips, Loudon, TN.
Instead of flowers, donations can be made to the charity that sends support packages to our troops stationed all over the world:
GRANNY’S GIFT FOR HEROES, INC.
523 S WILLOW RD
EVANSVILLE IN 47714-5101
There will be a graveside service held for immediate family only.
