Daniel Morris ‘Dan’ Phillips
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Daniel Morris “Dan” Phillips, 47, died Monday, Dec. 12, 2005, atthe University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital.
He was the nephew of the late Howard and Marguerite Phillips ofBrookhaven.
Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Oxford-UniversityUnited Methodist Church, with the Revs. Warren Black and BobWhiteside officiating.
Burial will follow in Oxford Memorial Cemetery. Visitation isThursday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Waller Funeral Home.
An assistant publisher and stockholder at The Oxford EAGLE, hewas an award-winning writer and photographer. He began his careeras a staff writer at The Natchez Democrat before taking the job ofmanaging editor for The Russellville (Ala.) Times. He returned tohis family’s newspaper in 1983.
He served in several leadership positions with the NationalNewspaper Association, including a term as president in 1999-2000,and was appointed to a second one-year at-large term on the NNAboard for 2004-05.
As president of the Mississippi Press Association in 1997-98, hewas instrumental in forming the Mississippi Center for Freedom ofInformation, headquartered at the University of Mississippi.
He was named among the “Top 40 Under 40” of state businessleaders by the Mississippi Business Journal in 1998. That sameyear, the UM Department of Journalism recognized him as one of itstop 50 alumni as part of the school’s 50th anniversarycelebration.
A 1980 UM graduate, he was involved as a student in OmicronDelta Kappa, Sigma Delta Chi and Order of Omega honor societies. Hewas a former president, chapter advisor and house corporationmember for his college fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi.
A graduate of Leadership Mississippi and Leadership Lafayette,he served on the board of directors for the Oxford-Lafayette CountyChamber of Commerce for four years, including a term as presidentin 1991.
He also served from 2002-05 on the board of directors forMechanics Bank, and was a former state board member for theAmerican Cancer Society and a current member of the board oftrustees for the National Kidney Foundation of Mississippi.
He was a member of the Oxford Rotary Club, where he was a PaulHarris Fellow, and was an active member of Oxford-University UnitedMethodist Church. A licensed pilot, he enjoyed golf, computers andhunting.
He is survived by his wife, Susan Phillips; two daughters,Margaret Goodwyn Phillips and Mary August Phillips; his parents,Jesse P. and Jeanette Phillips; and two brothers, Tim Phillips andAndy Phillips; and his mother-in-law, Margaret “Peggy” Schove, allof Oxford.
Memorials may be made to Oxford-University United MethodistChurch, 424 S. 10th St., Oxford, MS 38655; to the National KidneyFoundation of Mississippi, P.O. Box 55802, Jackson, MS 39296; or tothe Daniel M. Phillips Scholarship, University of MississippiDepartment of Journalism, University, MS 38677.