Helen Phillips

Helen A. Phillips, 98, formerly of Coloma, died Tuesday, March 14, 2006, at Lakeland Continuing Care Center, St. Joseph. A Celebration of Life Service will be held 2:00 P.M., Saturday, March 18, 2006, at Kerley-Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Burial will be in Crystal Springs Cemetery, Benton Harbor. Friends may call on the family from 1:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M., Saturday, at the funeral home. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guestbook online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com Helen was born August 26, 1907, in Benton Harbor, Michigan to John and Mary (Sonnenberg) Freier. She married Fred Phillips in 1925 in Gary, Indiana. Helen attended the Benton Harbor, North, congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She was an avid gardener. Helen is survived by her daughter Lorane Carlson of St. Joseph; sons Gardner (Joan) Phillips of St. Joseph, and Bruce (Katherine) Phillips of Deerfield Beach, Florida; twelve grandchildren; sixteen great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and brother Walter Freier of St. Joseph. She is preceded in death by her husband Fred Phillips in 1971; three grandsons – Mark, Gary and Craig Carlson; sister Lydia Fisher and brother Edward Freier.