Vail Jay Phillips

Vail "Jay" Phillips, of Southlake, Texas, passed away surrounded by his beloved wife and daughters on November 1, 2025, in the home of his daughter, Julie Winterton, in Pleasant View, Utah, at the age of 85.

Jay was born on June 9, 1940, in Rexburg, Idaho, to Vail Jensen and Lenore Neeley Phillips and was the oldest of three boys. Growing up, Jay loved the outdoors, playing baseball in the street with the neighborhood kids, playing the saxophone in his band, and spending time with his family. Jay went to school in Salt Lake City and graduated from West High. He attended the University of Utah and graduated from Utah State University in 1966 with a degree in Industrial Management. He married Sharon Stillman in 1968.

Jay spent his professional life in the mining and oil industries. He believed in honest work and was not afraid to get in the dirt. As a result, he earned the respect of those who knew him, both personally and professionally. His core values and work ethic propelled him from mine surveyor to engineer to company president, and then owner of two companies. More than once in his life, Jay accepted a job offer not knowing how to do some aspect of the job, but he knew he could learn it before he had to perform, and he did.

Jay is remembered by family and friends as a happy and generous man of integrity who loved his family, enjoyed challenges, and was never afraid to try something new. Jay served as a counselor in a Singles Ward Bishopric, and he and Sharon worked in the Dallas, Texas Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 20 years. Jay loved to hunt, fish, and shoot skeet, and served as Treasurer for the Grand Prairie Gun Club in Grand Prairie, Texas for many years.

Jay is survived by his wife of 57 years, Sharon Stillman Phillips; daughters, Colleen (Wade) Roundy, Julie (Brad) Winterton, and Noelle (Joseph) Whitaker; 16 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Doug and Don; and an uncle, Boyd Phillips. He is preceded in death by his parents Vail Jensen and Lenore Neeley Phillips.

Funeral services will be held Friday, November 7, 11:00 am, at the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park Chapel, 3401 S Highland Drive, Millcreek, Utah. Interment, Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.

A visitation prior to the service will be held on November 7, 2025, from 10:00 am to 10:45 am at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, located at 3401 S. Highland Drive, Millcreek, UT, 84106.

The final resting place will be Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in the Vista Park Garden, located at 3401 Highland Dr, Millcreek, UT 84106.