Lucy "Sis" Tanner (Phillips) Hunter

Lucy “Sis” Tanner (Phillips) Hunter was born Sept 17, 1926 in Spindale NC, near Ashville. She died peacefully of heart failure in her sleep August 16, 2013 at the Army Residence Community, San Antonio TX. She was the daughter of Robert Stancil Phillips and Alice Louise “Lucy” Tanner. Sis lived with her family and two sisters (Sara Elizabeth and Martha “Patsy” Hughes) in nearby Rutherfordton where she went to elementary and middle school. Tanner was a prominent name in the garment industry and today is known for the origin of the fashionable Doncaster line of women’s clothing and accessories. After middle school the family moved about 50 miles SE of Cincinnati, OH where she graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1945. She was a cheerleader and was active in the drama department. Sis attended Brevard College, about 50 miles west of Rutherfordton. Following her enrollment at Brevard, the family moved in 1946 to Washington DC where she taught dancing. In 1947 she met Capt Ovis D. “OD” Hunter at the lounge in the Roosevelt Hotel downtown DC. OD was a decorated Marine Corps aviator who flew Corsairs in the South Pacific and was on leave from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC. They married in 1947 and were together for over 60 years. In her later years, she worked as a real estate agent and was an avid golfer. Sis is survived by her sons Douglas and wife Gerri of Clovis, CA; and Philip and his wife Maria of San Antonio, TX. Grandchildren include Alexander and Sara Hunter from San Antonio, Christina and husband Paul Bailey from Seneca SC, and Roxanne McHaley from Clovis, CA. Granddaughter, Sandra Morton, passed away suddenly in 2011 while living in Seneca. Sis has 6 great grandchildren who also live in Seneca. She has one surviving sister, Patsy Fabrizio, who lives in Myrtle Beach SC. Her oldest sister, Sara Draney, passed away in the DC area in 1994. Sara’s daughter and Sis’s only niece, Pamela Parker, lives in Woodbine MD. Interment will be in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery at 9:30 am Wednesday August 28, 2013. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Arthritis Foundation (800 283-7800) or the Fisher House Foundation (888 294-8560).