Linda Gail Phillips

For Love is Immortality–” - Emily Dickinson

Linda Gail Phillips was born on December 10, 1947 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She was the oldest child of Arvil Gray “Punk” and Lucille Sanford. She spent her earliest years of life doting on her four siblings: Betty, Mary, Jimmy, and Penny. Her hero was her grandmother Odessa Snow, who first modeled the type of love that would later become Linda’s life’s work.

Linda, who was never idle, spent her teen years busy in a flurry of happy motion. She was a tiny thing, standing not much over five feet. She had big brown eyes, a kind smile, and a crown of bouffant hair that defied the laws of gravity. Linda served as the head cheerleader for Northside High School, where her agility, energy, and loud voice was often the highlight of football games as the team seldom won. Linda remembered and could perform her cheer routines well into her mid-fifties. It was also around this time that Linda fell in love with reading, specifically romance novels. Wuthering Heights was of particular importance to her after she feigned illness to stay home from school to read the last chapters. Linda told her granddaughter that this work reshaped her daydreams and made her hope for a great love story of her own.There were no fog shrouded moors or lovelorn Englishmen to be found in Samantha, Alabama during the early 1960’s, but there was Guinn Phillips, who after meeting Linda in junior high, proclaimed that he was going to marry her when they grew up. He had to wait a few years before she would agree to date him, but once she did, he courted her all over Tuscaloosa county in a car that lacked floorboards. They married on May 29, 1965. Everything that Linda cherished in her life sprung from this union, but nothing more so than her children, who each inherited their own unique share of their mother’s beauty and goodness. Kris, her oldest and only daughter, was her best friend. Jeff, her second born son, was her rock. Jason, her youngest son, was and ever remains her baby. Her children blessed her with grandchildren, who she doted on with fierce devotion. In turn, her children and grandchildren adored her with a love that language will never be able to do justice. There is not a member of Linda’s family who doesn’t fully believe that God broke the mold when he made her and then scattered the pieces to Heaven afterwards.

In 1977, Guinn and Linda bought land in a then secluded area of Lake Tuscaloosa. Surrounded by trees and the peace of nature, Guinn built a sturdy house. Linda made it a home. There was never a season when Linda’s energy didn’t provide the structure with a heartbeat. In the summers, the kitchen would shimmer and undulate from heat as pressure cookers brought tomatoes to a boil. There wasn’t much she couldn’t do with a tomato, but Linda’s canned tomato juice or her signature tomato gravy recipe rank high among her family’s favorites. She also never met a vegetable she wouldn’t attempt to pickle when she wasn’t staining her fingers purple from shelling peas. Winters in the Phillips’ home were never cold as Linda was an avid quilter. While she started sewing as a hobby, she was undeniably skilled. Linda was a member of the West Alabama Quilters’ Guild and won several first prize ribbons, notably for her turtle and butterfly patterned quilts. Linda was also a gifted embroiderer and sometimes a painter. Often the beauty she saw in the world reappeared in whatever artistic endeavor she tried her hand at. Linda loved her home but she didn’t hide away in it; she drew the world in. She flung the doors open not just for celebrations and happy moments, but also to anyone who needed respite and shelter. Linda’s life’s work was love and her home, as an extension of herself, was that personified.

Linda was devoted to those she loved. She never failed to show up for her children and grandchildren, but also extended love to anyone who would accept it. She didn’t judge others and was incapable of holding a grudge. It did not matter how much someone hurt her, Linda would forgive. This quality, alongside her trusting nature, often caused her family to be protective of her, but Linda didn’t mind– she loved knowing that she was treasured. It delighted her family to see how cared for she was by the people she encountered in her life. An avid shopper, Linda knew not only the names of most of the employees in Belk, but also what was going on in their lives. When her health made shopping trips difficult, she switched to QVC, but missed the conversational aspect of transactions. Linda attended church for years, where she was “Miss Linda” and cooked enough spaghetti meals to feed half of Tuscaloosa. She met lots of strangers in her life, but she turned most of them into friends.

Linda was a natural caretaker. She spent her life treating her children and grandchildren’s minor ailments when she was needed, but she proved that her selflessness, love, and devotion knew no depths when Guinn was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2003. She tended him with unfaltering strength and empathy for three years as he fought. Because of her love, Guinn was never placed in assisted care and was able to live out his remaining days in their home. No man could have asked for a better wife than Linda. She cared for him until his last breath on August 20, 2006. Linda, faithful until her last breath, never kissed another man for the rest of her life. She did have her great love story.

Linda was not a person who can be labeled or easily described. Every story that can be told about her, every trait that can be listed, would appear to contradict each other. Linda loved the Lord with all her heart and could quote scripture with ease, but she could also rattle off the stats of her favorite MMA fighters. She believed airplanes were harbingers of death, but wouldn’t hesitate to carry a mini fridge up a flight of stairs in the dark while wearing flip-flops. She wouldn’t try exotic foods but thought expiration dates were meaningless. She was saintly in the way she lived her life, but unafraid of making a mischievous comment or observation for a laugh with a twinkle in her eye. All this to say, Linda made life fun and unpredictable. She was the life of the party no matter the guest list.

In her last years, Linda endured and survived health battles that seemed untiring in their relentlessness. Her tiny body belied her strength; Linda fought her absolute hardest to stay with her family for as long as she could. On February 25, 2024, Linda went to sleep in the home her husband built for her and where she raised her children and grandchildren– her absolute favorite place on Earth. She did not wake from this sleep and was rushed to Northport Medical Center shortly before being transferred to DCH Regional Medical Center MICU. The five days that followed allowed for all her loved ones to reach her side and to take up vigil in the waiting room with their prayers and stories of her. If love were enough to keep someone from death, the next sentence would never be written. Linda left her earthly life and vessel on March 2, 2024, surrounded by her family. When she opened her eyes next, she was in Heaven, meeting her creator face to face. She was reunited with her beloved husband, parents, and grandmother Odessa. There is comfort and joy in knowing that Linda will never know a moment of pain again. Her family will rejoice and thank their God upon every remembrance of Linda. They are also devastated by her passing and will mourn her absence until they see her again. Grief has been described as love with nowhere to go. Linda, in the way she lived her life, taught her family and friends how to survive her passing. When the grief of her passing feels unbearable, they will take the love they are unable to give Linda on earth and direct it towards each other. As stated before, Linda’s life’s work was love and her family will ensure her legacy lives on by loving like Linda.

Linda is preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, and husband.

Linda Gail Phillps is survived by her children and the families they have created. Kris and Patrick Coss and their children; Grayson Coss; Lauren Bingham and her husband, Riley. Jeff and Darlene Phillips and their children: Leighton and Jillian Phillips; Mason and Garrit Willis. Jason and Kim Phillips and their children; Hannah Phillips Marlowe and her husband, Stephen; Jessie Phillips and his wife, Katelyn. Linda is also survived by her aunt, Mae Watkins, and her siblings: Betty Free, Mary Patterson, Jimmy Sanford, and Penny Ray.

Linda’s service will take place at Memory Chapel Funeral Home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 2 pm. Visitation will be from 1-2 PM. The service will be officiated by Linda’s beloved friend, Jonathan McKinney.

Pallbearers will be: Jeff Phillips, Jason Phillips, Patrick Coss, Grayson Coss, Jessie Phillips, Stephen Marlowe, Riley Bingham, Garrit Willis, and Mason Willis. Her nephew, Jamie Sanford, will serve as an honorary pallbearer in spirit as he is unable to attend in person.

Linda’s family would like to extend the deepest heartfelt gratitude to the following people and organizations: Dr. Stephen Browne, Northport Medical Center Emergency Department, DCH Regional Medical Center MICU, Dr. Lauren Shea, Dr. Dirk Berry, Dr. Sakina Kamal, Dr. Waleed Siddiqi and everyone who prayed with and for Linda and her family. The family would also like to thank Betty Free, her beloved sister, for the devotion she showed Linda this past year.