Wayne G. Phillips

Wayne G. Phillips was born July 28, 1937, the third of nine children, to Doug and Cora Phillips in Dayton, Idaho. He spent a month battling a string of health struggles before he slipped into eternity on March 16, 2023 in Preston, Idaho.

He married Joan Nielson on June 6, 1957 in the Logan LDS Temple and soon after started their family with Todd, followed by Lisa and Shelli. They also raised their grandson Matt for much of his life. Those children gave him the grandchildren and great-grandchildren he loved so much and was so proud of. He used to tell people, “I’ve done a lot of things wrong in my life, but if when I die my grandkids like me, that’s all I care about”. We’d like to officially record here, that based on that measure of success, Wayne was an overachiever. He is very loved by all his family, but especially his grandkids.

Wayne grew up on a farm in Dayton where he spent cherished summers full of shenanigans with his brothers and riding his horse to the river bottoms to visit his beloved Grandma Griffith. He also worked on the family farm that would create a work ethic in Wayne that would define him for the rest of his life.

When Wayne graduated from Westside High School, he joined his brother Clynn in Seattle to work at Boeing for several months, but returned to Preston to marry his sweetheart, Joan. Excited to start their new life together Wayne enrolled at USU in the auto mechanics program and Joan got a job as a secretary for the Dean. All those plans changed when unexpectedly, Wayne was diagnosed with both Polio and a tumor on his femur and Joan got pregnant with Todd. Overcome with hospital bills from these events, they put college on hold, and both started earning money working any job they could to earn money.

That first year of marriage set the tone for them, and for the next 40 years there was seldom a day of his life that Wayne didn’t work at least two jobs. He was a Preston police officer, a salesman at Ford McCune, ran a mink ranch, and eventually owned and operate the Phillips 66 service station in Preston. He was very dedicated to his customers and would haul fuel at all hours of the day or night to ensure families didn’t go cold. The service station became something of a family and social hub and all the kids have memories of working at the station or riding in the gas truck with Wayne and getting to know everyone in town as they came in for gas. After he sold the station, he worked for many years as a foreman at Thiokol in Brigham City. No matter where he worked, he always seemed to squeeze in time to farm a piece of ground somewhere and Wayne would often work 20 hours a day to get everything taken care of.

Busy as he was, Wayne wasn’t all work and no play. He was someone who truly enjoyed life and especially in retirement found time for his hobbies. Wayne was gifted in mechanics, and he loved working on or restoring old John Deere equipment and old Ford cars. If you drove into his yard during the summer, you’d almost be sure to find him with his shops doors up either working on a piece of equipment or tipped back in a chair watching TV with a farm cat in his lap. He was an able oarsman and loved river rafting with his family. He did some very memorable trips with his brothers including a 10-day Grand Canyon trip. Wayne was also an avid rodeo fan and the Preston Rodeo was a cherished yearly event as his family came to celebrate his birthday and attend rodeo festivities. Wayne doesn’t remember ever missing a single night of the Preston rodeo and enjoyed a few trips to the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City and Las Vegas. Wayne really valued and enjoyed the company of his many friends and brothers and loved nothing more than a day out to a farm sale or a 4-wheeler ride with some group of them. In the absence of a rodeo or farm sale, he and Joan enjoyed the simple pleasures of exploring SE Idaho via every backroad in his new Ford pickup and sitting under the big shade tree in their yard swapping stories and jokes with anyone who came into the yard.

Wayne could be a tough man. He was direct, hardworking, and never apologized for who he was, but he also had a huge heart and was generous to a fault. He hated seeing people in need, especially if they had kids and was always trying to make people’s lives, easier with various acts of service. He delivered them treats, toys, entire Christmas celebrations and once even brought a family of strangers home to stay for a few weeks while they worked through a hardship. When he owned Philips 66, many accounts were written off if Wayne knew the family couldn’t afford the fuel. He said he just couldn’t leave a family with kids in the cold. Wayne had a big personality and a big heart to match. His family and friends will miss him greatly.

Wayne is survived by a son and two daughters, Todd (Kris) Phillips of Elk Ridge, UT; Lisa Peterson of Sacramento, CA; Shelli Kime (Greg) of Portland, OR; by 10 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren; and six brothers. Wayne is preceded in death by his wife, Joan; parents, Doug and Cora Phillips; a sister, Myrna Bailey, and a brother Clair D Phillips.

The family would like to thank Dr. Beckstead and the excellent nursing staff at Franklin County Medical Center staff for the loving care of our father.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, March 24th, 2023 at 12:00pm at the Preston 5^th Ward church building, 214 South 2^nd East, Preston Idaho. The services will be streamed live and may be watched Friday at 12 pm (MST) by clicking on the link in his obituary at webbmortuary.com Viewings will be held Thursday from 6-8pm at Webb Funeral Home, 1005 South 800 East, Preston, Idaho and Friday from 10:30-11:30am at the 5^th ward church building.

Interment will be in the Clifton, Idaho Cemetery. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at webbmortuary.com

Services will be available to stream live Friday March 24 at 12:00 noon MDT at the following link:

https://youtube.com/live/iUsp91E1ebc?feature=share