Phillips, Donald E.

Donald E. Phillips, 87, of Cedar Rapids, died Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010, at Heritage Nursing & Rehab. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23, at Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories with visitation starting at 12:30 p.m.

Surviving to honor his memory are his wife, Shirley; his children, Steve Phillips, David (Brenda) Phillips of Virginia Beach, Va., and Susan Finley-Phillips of Hiawatha; and daughter-in-Law, Teresa North of Mount Vernon.

He also has a sister, Dorothy Wendt (Don) in Waterloo; a sister-in-law, Barbara Opheim; brother-in-law, Wayne Opheim of Mason City; seven grandchildren, Niya, Kaylee, Aubrey, Garrett, Maxwell, Jonell and Alex; and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Donald Eugene Phillips was born April 23, 1923, in Iowa City, the son of David and Maude (Goocher) Phillips. Donald studied music and engineering in college and was a systems engineer with Rockwell Collins for many years. He continued his passion for music playing with the symphony in earlier years and was a very active member of the Beethoven Club, IEEE and Toastmaster's. For those who knew Don were very aware of his love of music and his passion for being able to sit at the piano and improvise any time the mood struck.

Memorial donations may be made to the Cedar Rapids Symphony – Orchestra Iowa. Cards may be directed to Shirley, c/o Meadowview, 3005 F Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405.

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