John David Phillips passed away on September 15, 2021 at Edgehill Senior Living Community, Stamford, CT. His previous residence was 26 Pilot Rock Lane, Riverside, CT. He was born on June 29, 1920 to Iva and Mathew Phillips in a log cabin located near a logging road in Exelund, WI. He was the second of eleven children. His parents pioneered 80 acres of land bought for $10 an acre under the U.S. Homestead Act, cleared land, dug wells, and started a farm with a team of horses, four cows, and limited farm equipment.
His beloved wife Estelle preceded him in death in 2013.
He entered the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture on a 4H scholarship when he was 15 and earned a Short Course in Agriculture Certificate. He went to work at 17 to help support his family in the Great Depression as a Fieldman for the Dairy Herd Improvement Assn. in Dodge County, WI.
He retired as president of the CBS Columbia Group and a member of the board of directors of CBS in 1985.
Early in his career he was co-founder of Miss Wisconsin Cheese Co., the first company to prepackage aged cheddar cheese. Over the years he employed 14 Miss Wisconsin Beauty Contest winners to help promote the cheese. The business was then purchased by Armour & Co.
He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in Biloxi, MS in WW II. He was vice president of Armour & Co.; vice president of American Home Products, Inc; president of R. J. Reynolds Foods, Inc.; and president of Intercity Oil and Gas Co. He was co-founder of the Corporate Growth Assn., NYC; past president of the Church Council and a Sunday school teacher of the Second Congregational Church, Greenwich, CT; co-founder of Mead School for Human Development; past council member of Greenwich Boy Scouts; past president of Harbor Point Assn., Riverside, CT; a director of the New York Public Library; a director of Glenmore Distillery Co., Louisville, KY; an admiral in the Texas Navy and a Kentucky Colonel.
His survivors include his son John D. Phillips, Jr. and his wife Wendy of New York City; four grandsons; seven great granddaughters and two great grandsons: John D. Phillips III and his wife Margot and daughters Natalie, Julia, and Claire of Wellesley, MA; Scott Young Phillips and his wife Isabel and daughters Charlotte, Lucy, and Abigail of Greenwich, CT; Peter Millar Phillips and his wife Lacee, sons Lucas and Will and daughter Rylee of Mill Valley, CA; and Thomas McLaren Phillips of Nashville, TN.
Burial will be beside his wife at the Union Cemetery, Greenwich.
His memorial service will be at 3:00 PM on Saturday, November 6 at Second Congregational Church, Greenwich, CT followed by a reception at the church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Second Congregational Church.
