Eulogy for Willie Jane Phillips

My name is Desiree Jolley and I was blessed to have a friendship with Jane for over 20 years. Willie Jane Phillips was known by many names, including mom, mother, Granny, Granny Jane, Willie, Jane and I have heard that some have even called her "High Maintenance" and "Mrs. Hamburger". I promise you that I am not making this stuff up! She was born on February 24, 1925 and was raised in Winfield, Alabama along with her five sisters and two brothers. At the age of 20, Jane moved to Birmingham, Alabama where she met her husband, Aubrey Phillips at a barn dance. He was a gifted guitar player who even played at the Grand Ole Opry. She always called him Copper because he had red hair. They were married on October 29, 1949 and just a few years later started their family with the arrival of Terry who was their born first born. The following year the family moved from Alabama to Houston, Texas where Copper obtained a job as a car salesman and Jane managed the household. Three years later Barbara was born and then Charles completed their family in 1958. Jane used to tell me that Charles was her baby boy and I have heard from others that as the youngest child, he was very spoiled by her.

The Phillips family moved to Cypress on October 8, 1962 which was the same day that Jane moved as a little girl to Winfield, except instead of arriving by car, their mode of transportation was a horse drawn wagon. Can you imagine that? Jane and Copper raised their children in that little brick house located on Lewis Drive. She was a wonderful story teller! Jane once told me a story about how the boys would have overnight camp outs near Cypress Creek which was located near their house. It seemed like all the neighborhood kids gathered at their home. Once, after a storm Terry decided to go surfing on the creek with a surf board which nearly gave her a heart attack. No wonder she  always spoke of her anxiety raising boys! Charles tells the story of when he was a boy and he was not allowed to go outside and play with the others as a punishment. At the time, his mom was outside working in the back yard. He would check to make sure that she was still there and then go out the front door to play before coming back in to check on where she was. At some point, his play was interrupted by seeing a snake climbing up the side of the house. He ran around to the back and told Jane who then got the hoe and killed the snake. Then, she turned to Charles and asked how he would have seen the snake from inside the house! The kids said that she always knew everything that was going on!

Jane and Copper were married for 30 years until Copper passed away which left Jane a widow at the age of 54. Instead of remarrying she made the choice to put all her heart and soul into her family and her Lord. In the years following Copper's death, Jane enjoyed travelling with friends and church groups. She also enjoyed going to the Crighton Theatre in Conroe with Sherry. Sherry told me that Jane's favorite part of the evening was afterwards when she got to meet all the actors.

Jane was a long-time member of Cypress Baptist Church and was very involved with various ladies' ministries throughout the years. As a believer, it was very important to her that she pass on her faith to her children and grandchildren. She accomplished this by giving her family one of the greatest gift of all: her time. She would always tell me that   her family was the most important thing in the world to her. She loved her 11 grandchildren, 12 great- grandchildren and 1 great- great grandchild and she still had love to spare. I heard stories about how she spent countless hours swinging on the swing that was under her car port. But she was rarely alone! She always had a child (or two) sitting with her as she told them stories, nursery rhymes and just visited with them. Carrie said it best when she said that "you always knew how much she loved you and she always knew how much you loved her". She WAS easy to love!

Jane loved all children and she especially enjoyed having her grandchildren come visit her, often overnight. They had the best of times, always wanting to sleep in Granny's bed! She used to babysit the grandkids during the summer time and they always had so much fun.

One summer, they found some baby puppies across the street and she decided (without telling Babs) that she was going to give one to the kids. I guess that Babs could not resist their sweet smiles because they ended up taking the puppy home. They named him Spud and he lived 15 years.

Jane loved to garden. Besides planting beautiful flowers, she grew all sorts of veggies (tomatoes, peppers, onions, peas, green beans, just to name a few). She also canned the vegetables to eat during the winter months. Not only did she enjoy gardening, she shared her skill with her family, teaching them how to plant and maintain a garden. She had many hobbies. You would never find her without a pile of books waiting to be read. She could literally read one book per day sometimes staying up past midnight to finish her latest novel. And she loved to play games. She was always ready for a good game of Skip Bo or Chicken Foot! And that brings me to the famous "apartment"! She was very proud of this room, affectionately named by Larissa when she was a child. Jane used this room to play her card games and she always had lots of toys in "the apartment" for the children as well. It was a special place!

Now let's talk about her cooking! She loved to cook, especially for her grandchildren. Country fried potatoes and macaroni and cheese were a favorite of the grandkids and the great- grand kids seemed to love her spaghetti and brownies. I hear that her fried chicken was a hit too! This brings me to her cookies. Yes, the famous Buffalo Chip Cookies. You all know the ones that I am talking about. We ALL received them every year for Christmas. It was a process, though. It all started with the Annual Family Christmas Cookie Baking Party that she hosted at her house. I have heard that each year just about every type of cookie was baked. But, there always ended up being more Buffalo Chip Cookies than anything else!

Jane loved to shop. She and her best friend, Mary Davis, would leave to go shopping early in the morning and would not return until late in the evening. As she got older, Babs took on the role as her "personal shopper" since she decided that she did not like having to try everything on at the stores. Needless to say, there were a lot of returns! A few have told me that she was very spoiled, but I don't believe it!

Babs told me that her mom always loved to celebrate her birthday. She enjoyed getting gifts as well as being "queen for the day". At Christmas, it would usually take her longer then the children to unwrap all her gifts. Christmas was a special time for her. Each Christmas Eve, the entire family would gather at her house to celebrate.

Nine years ago, she made the decision to move to be closer to her children. She chose a wonderful house in Pinehurst where she continued all the Phillips family traditions. Wouldn't you know, she had a perfect room in the front of her house that became "the new apartment". Not only did she use this room to read and play cards, but she also enjoyed people watching thru the large window. She knew all her neighbors and they all watched out for her. She felt safe there. Jane began a new tradition at Halloween. Everyone would come over and she would have the garage all set up for the children. She enjoyed seeing them all in their costumes, young and old. I am told that they would spend around $100 just for the candy! But to her, it was worth it.