Ralph Charles Phillips

Ralph Charles Phillips, 97, of Congerville, Illinois passed away on September 18, 2025 in Oregon, Illinois. He was born on May 16, 1928 in Le Roy, Illinois, the second child of Charles Theodore and Ella Menton (Adams) Phillips. Ralph grew up on the family farm in rural Le Roy and was a 1946 graduate of Le Roy High School. As a youth, he was baptized at the Christian Church in Le Roy. On December 7, 1957, he married Wanda Stephens in Angola, Indiana.

Ralph served in the US Army during the Korean Conflict and was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska during much of that time. He worked for A.O. Smith assembling storage facilities and spent most of his career working as a truck driver for DMI and Apache Truck Line, making countless trips to deliver farm machinery and other equipment within Illinois and neighboring states and beyond. Every family member rode along with Ralph in the truck on at least one trip. When the children were young, the family went on memorable vacations each summer to a lake house in northern Michigan. In later years he enjoyed traveling with family members to California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Hawaii and elsewhere. He was a member of the American Legion in Eureka, Illinois and the Northern Illinois Steam Power Club in Sycamore, Illinois.

Ralph was preceded in death by his parents and sisters Helen Alexander and Georgia Drennan. He is survived by his wife Wanda of Congerville; daughters Cynthia Campbell of Sycamore, Illinois, Lynda (Roxie) Voran of Houston, Texas, and Nancy Phillips of Pekin, Illinois; and son Stephen Phillips of Congerville; also three grandchildren, Tyler Campbell of Denver, Colorado, Emily Voran and Rebecca Voran of Houston, Texas, and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be Friday, October 3, from 5 to 7 pm at East Lawn Funeral Home, Bloomington, Illinois. Graveside services will be on Saturday, October 4 at 11:00 am at Oak Grove Cemetery, Le Roy, Illinois.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to Barb City Manor, 680 Haish Blvd, DeKalb, IL 60115 or to the Humane Society of Central Illinois at hscipets.org/donate/.