Obituaries / LJWorld.com

Obituaries

Services for Oliver Phillips, 80, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, with the Rev. Matt Zimmerman officiating. A reception will follow in the parish hall.
Mr. Phillips died Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
He was born Oct. 23, 1929, in Kansas City, Mo., the son of Oliver C. Phillips Sr. and Blanche Phillips.
Mr. Phillips was an emeritus professor in the classics department at Kansas University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education at KU, a master’s degree at the University of Missouri, and a doctorate in classics at the University of Chicago in 1962.
He taught in secondary schools in Kansas and Missouri, was a professor at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and in 1964 became a professor at KU, eventually becoming chair of the classics department, a position he held for 12 years. He retired in 1994.
He was a visiting professor at the University of Cologne in 1983. He received the Mortar Board Outstanding Educator award at KU in 1978, was a member of the American Philological Association, and was active in the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, which honored him with an “Ovation” in 1993.
After retiring, he continued to teach honors sections of Western Civilization at KU until 2001. He continued to contribute to an online cooperative project translating and commenting on the “Suda,” a Byzantine historical encyclopedia.
He served as scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 52 in Lawrence. He was on the building committee for St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, where he was active as a teacher and lector. He was an active member of the KU Endacott Society and the Lutheran Campus Ministry.
He married Shirley Liese on June 6, 1954. She survives, of the home.
Other survivors include two sons, Stephen and wife Jean, Perry, and Mark and wife Becky, Portland, Ore.; five grandchildren, Grace, Laura, Tom, Luke and Nick Phillips; his dog, Bingo; and a cat, Kiki.
The family suggests memorials to St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 5700 W. Sixth St., Lawrence, KS 66049, or the Lawrence Humane Society, P.O. Box 651, Lawrence, KS 66044.