Mandy Eloise Morrison Phillips

Mandy Eloise Morrison Phillips, age 87, of Coaling, Alabama, passed away on December 26, 2025, at Hospice of West Alabama. A memorial service will be held at Memory Chapel Funeral Home at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, December 31, 2025. Burial will follow in Memory Hill Gardens. Visitation will be held one hour prior to service. Officiating will be Brother Chuck Weaver.

Eloise was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, J.M., her son Dwayne, parents Biddie and Henry Morrison, her siblings, Ruby Sparks Pate, Ruth Clifton, Eva Nell Elmore and Valford Morrison. Survivors include her children, Steve (Darline), Mike (Glenda) and Laura Crawford (Mike); grandchildren Shawn, Kyle (Lacey), Ashley Creel (Trent), Amanda Reed (Adam), William Vining (Tracie) and Jeff Vining (Jamie); great-grandchildren Kaitlyn, Emily and Ethan Creel, Karis, Mabry, Weslin and Tucker Phillips, William “Alex” and James Lovett, Blaine Reed, Conner Olmstead, Odin, Bella, Levi, Raylan and Boyd Vining; great-great-grandchild Penelope Mahan. In addition to numerous nieces and nephews, she is also survived by her brother, Ranzy Morrison of Fayette.

Eloise was born on December 11, 1938, in Double Springs, Alabama. Her parents were sharecroppers and, although they moved often, they settled long enough for her to graduate from Fayette High School in 1957. Shortly after graduating, she and J.M. eloped to Mississippi. As a young married couple, they moved several times but eventually landed in Coaling, Alabama, to raise their children and their garden. In those days, to feed a family of six, you HAD to have a garden. Eloise was a gifted seamstress who owned and operated a business for many years in Tuscaloosa, Eloise’s Fabric Shop. Not only did she sell fabric, but she also created beautiful lingerie. She was incredibly talented and, as her granddaughter, Ashley, so accurately said, “she poured love into every stitch”.

She will be missed by so many who will remember her as giving and God-fearing, who loved church and singing the gospel – and Elvis. She was known for her work ethic, her sharp wit and her strong personality. Over the years, dementia cruelly stole much of the woman we knew but, even at the end, she remained someone to be respected, admired and loved.

Pallbearers are to be Shawn Phillips, Kyle Phillips, Trent Creel, Ethan Creel, Jeff Vining and Alex Lovett. Honorary pallbearers will be Carol and Nancy Snider, Tammy, Jeff and Ella Grace Blackerby, Tommy and Stephanie Rogers, her church family at Enterprise Baptist Church and friends and staff of Morning Pointe Lantern Community. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Hospice Care of West Alabama.