Frank Phillips

Frank Wendell Phillips, 86, passed away on March 29, 2016, at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.

Frank was born to Homer and Carrie Phillips on August 31, 1929, in Springdale, Pennsylvania.

Frank enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1947 and then transferred to the Air force in 1949. While stationed at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois, he met and married a school teacher, Louise Almira Robinson, on March 8, 1951. Together they had four sons, John, Mark, Bruce and Paul.

During the Korean War, Frank flew as a loadmaster, delivering and air dropping supplies from Japan to Korea. He was respectfully known as “Sarge.” On one of his last assignments, he was stationed at Glasgow Air Force Base in Montana. After retiring from the military, Frank worked for the postal service as a mail carrier in Kalispell.

Frank’s favorite hobbies were hunting, fishing and tinkering with guns and reloading ammo. The highlight of every year was the family deer hunting trips to the Koss Ranch in the Larb Hills, south of Malta with his buds. He always has been a hunter since age 9; he had his last hunt on the Koss Ranch at the age of 85.

Frank is preceded in death by his loving wife of 55 years, and son John in 1971, parents, step-parents, and three brothers.

He is survived by his three sons, Mark in Billings, Bruce in Silverfork, Utah, and Paul at the family home in Whitefish.

The family would like to thank the doctor and nurses of the Montana Veterans Home for the compassionate care they provided for our father during his stay there.

No services are planned at this time. Cremation has taken place under the direction of Austin Funeral Home. Frank’s ashes will be spread in Sun Prairie, where he hunted for many years.

“Rest in Peace, Pops.”