Celia Malone Phillips

Celia was born and grew up in Memphis, TN and graduated from St. Agnes Academy. She was an excellent student and active in school sports, especially basketball. While attending CYO Functions at St. Louis Church she met her future husband, Larry Phillips. After high school she attended Memphis State University, but suspended her higher education to be married. After marriage in 1966, she continued her college education at Iowa State University in Ames, IA where Larry was teaching architecture. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with majors in Anthropology and Philosophy. From there, she went on to the University of Chicago Divinity School to earn a Master of Arts Degree in theology.

Her years working were mostly in the legal field, first as a legal secretary and then as a paralegal. She sacrificed a lot in terms of potential career choices to support her family, moving as necessary with her husband’s evolving positions in architecture. Over the years, they lived in numerous different cities, including Little Rock, Ames, Chicago, Peoria, Atlanta, Dallas, and Niceville, Florida (just north of Destin). Finally, with retirement in 2014 they moved back to Johns Creek, GA to be closer to their children, residing at 3005 Rivermont Parkway. In all, the Atlanta area had been her home for more than 25 years.

Her favorite things were collecting Radko Christmas and holiday ornaments, her antique armoire with its collectibles, cooking holiday meals for family, attending theater at the Fox, playing the slots at the Biloxi casinos, loving her 6 different cats over the years, traveling and cruising (sometimes with her sister and brother-in-law), and gardening for a well landscaped home. Also she enjoyed animals and was a volunteer docent at Zoo Atlanta for a number of years in the 90’s.

Celia leaves her husband, Larry, and her two children: son Matthew Phillips, 49, of Lawrenceville and daughter Holly Martin, 48, of Roswell. She also leaves her sister Gwen Arnoult and brother Tom Malone, both of Memphis as well as 3 grandchildren. She will be honored with a goodbye gathering at the Roswell Funeral Home on October 10th between 2 and 4 PM and laid to rest in Green Lawn Cemetery immediately following.