William Henry Myers Phillips

William Henry Myers Phillips (known to most as “Bill” and to some as “Billy”) passed away peacefully in his home on Monday February 7, 2022, after a well-lived and happy life. He is predeceased by his parents, Robert Buchanan Phillips and Sarah Myers Phillips. Although his parents and most of his close relatives were deeply rooted in the Mississippi Delta, Bill was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Mountain Brook Elementary School, graduating in 1948 before heading to Ramsay High School for one year and then graduating from Shades Valley High School in 1952. From there, he followed his father to the University of the South (Sewanee) and remained there for one year before transferring to Vanderbilt University, where he graduated with the Class of 1956. In college, Bill was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. After college, Bill entered the United States Navy where he attained the rank of lieutenant in three years of active-duty service on different ships in the Atlantic and the Pacific, principally on the USS Brister. He returned to Birmingham after military service, and in 1962 he met and began dating Elizabeth Dwyer (“Betty”) Wingo. Bill and Betty married in 1964, and they subsequently had and raised two sons, William Henry Myers (“Will”) Phillips, Jr. and Robert Buchanan (“Brother”) Phillips, II. Bill was a successful businessman, and as a founder and owner helped build American Design, Inc., a pressure sensitive label business, into the one of the largest printers of labels in the Southeast.

Bill was famously and irrepressibly friendly and cheerful. He was a longtime tennis player and sailor, and at one point in his life he even held a private pilot’s license. He loved the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly in Monteagle, Tennessee, where he and Betty have a cottage and have spent most summers over the last 45 years, and he loved the Florida Gulf Coast, where he and Betty have spent most Februarys and Novembers over the last few decades. Bill was a life-long active and involved member of First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama, serving in leadership roles and singing in its choir until late in his life. He also was a member of the Country Club of Birmingham and the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.

Bill is survived by his wife, Betty; his sons, Will (Virginia) and Brother; and his grandsons, Frederick Henry Phillips and Thomas Walker Phillips.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday the 12th of February at 2:00 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 2100 4th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama, with a brief visitation immediately following the service in the church foyer. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ridoutsvalleychapel.com for the Phillips family.