Happy Birthday Floyd Boyce Phillips

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Floyd Boyce Phillips (1891-1971)

Floyd Boyce Phillips was born on 07 Dec 1891 in Aurora, Kane, Illinois as the third child of Guy Allison Phillips and Gertrude Lovin Boyce. He had four brothers, namely: Roy Selam, Albert Harold, Arthur Guy, and Charles Verne.

Guy and Gertrude Phillips boys, 1904. Front, from left, Arthur, Charles and Floyd. Back, Albert and Roy.
Floyd Phillips with his parents.

Floyd grew up in Illinois, but as a young man, joined brothers to farm in Canada. He headed north in the summers and then came home to Illinois for winters. While in Canada, Floyd played baseball. Floyd served in World War I and was deployed to France.

1916 Dakota Baseball Team Elm Creek Manitoba. Bottom row, Floyd and Albert Phillips.
Floyd kept a journal while awaiting deployment to France in World War I.
Excerpt from Floyd’s WWI journal diagramming the contents of his pack.

When he was 33, Floyd Boyce Phillips married Leona Catherine Miller, daughter of Frank Palmer Miller and Mary Stolp, on 17 Apr 1925 in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois.

Floyd Boyce Phillips and Leona Catherine Miller had the following children:

  1. Stuart Frank Phillips was born on 19 Sep 1926 in Woodward Hospital, Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. He married Betty Jane Stephens at the Federated Church in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois.  He died on 02 Dec 1987 in Copley Memorial Hospital, Aurora, Kane, Illinois at age 61. He was buried in Oak Mound Cemetery, Somonauk, De Kalb, Illinois.
  2. Harold Wayne Phillips was born on 25 Feb 1931 in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. He died at birth.
  3. Lowell “Rusty” James Phillips was born on 28 Jan 1932 in Woodward Hospital, Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. He married Marilyn Jean MacWilliam  in Massachusetts. He died on 31 Oct 1995 in Arlington, Tarrant, Texas at age 63. He is buried at Colleyville, Tarrant, Texas.
  4. Coralee Mae Phillips was born  in Woodward Hospital, Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. She married James Frederick Krueger.
Some of the Phillips family. Back row, from left, Jim & Coralee and Betty & Stuart. Front row, Floyd and Leona. 1964.
More of the family, 1966. Front row, Bruce and Joel. Middle row, Coralee, Connie, Scott, Betty and Leona. Back row, Jim, Joanne, Dianne, Stuart and Floyd.

Floyd was a farmer, growing crops and raising animals.

Floyd Phillips, 1960.
Floyd and grandson, Todd, 1966.

He was featured in a newspaper article for inventing a better way to vaccinate pigs.

Growing asparagus was a specialty of the Phillips family. Floyd earned a patent for an asparagus apparatus.

Floyd was very active in his community. He was an active member of the Rotary club and the farm bureau. He served as a trustee at the Federated church and was elected to the school board. He also served on the Sandwich State Bank board of directors.

The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 21 September 1935.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 20 September 1940.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 27 April 1949.
Sandwich State Bank, board of directors. The Daily Chronicle (Dekalb, Illinois), 2 Jun 1956.
The Daily Chronicle (Dekalb, Illinois), 2 Jun 1956.

Floyd was known for being strict and disciplined. He didn’t drink alcohol and was quite serious. But, he could have fun too. According to the newspapers, he and Leona also had an active social life. We probably thought we were unique with our newfangled Facebook posts to keep us up-to-date on who was going where with whom. But we’d be wrong. As shown in the examples below, everyone got a lot of status updates about the Phillips family way back-in-the-day through the local newspaper.

The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 18 December 1930.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 15 September 1932.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 10 October 1936.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 6 October 1938.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 29 December 1938.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 8 September 1939.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 22 February 1940.
The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois), 5 April 1948.
Brothers, Arthur and Floyd Phillips.
Rusty and Floyd, a day on the lake, 1965. (Note the water skis.)
Leona, Betty, Stuart, Coralee and Floyd, vacationing in Florida, 1967.
Floyd, vacationing in Florida, 1967.
Revisiting Fannystelle, Canada, 1970. From left, Rusty, Floyd, Stuart, Coralee, Bruce, Scott, Betty and Jim.

Floyd died on 07 Jul 1971 in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. He was buried on 09 Jul 1971 in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois.

Floyd and Leona, 1967.
Joanne, Floyd, Todd, Scott, Stuart, Joel, Betty, Connie, Coralee, Leona, Bruce and Dianne, 1967.
Floyd Phillips, funeral card.

He is still remembered by his numerous descendants.

Floyd’s grandchildren, 2009. Back row, from left, Brent, Joel, Todd, Bruce, Scott and Lowell. Front row, from left, Merry, Connie, Dianne, Joanne, and Susan.

Where is he in the tree?

Pedigree chart, Floyd Boyce Phillips.

How can I learn more?

The Phillips Family book covers the life and ancestors of Floyd Boyce Phillips.

The Phillips Family



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