Celebration of life for George Phillips on April 1

George Phillips, 74, of Wrangell, passed away from lung cancer at the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System Medical ICU in Seattle on Feb. 24.

A celebration of life is planned for 2 p.m. April 1 at the Harbor Light Assembly of God Church in Wrangell.

George was born on Jan. 19, 1949, to George and Betty Jane Phillips in Kalispell, Montana. When he was 8 years old, his parents moved to Oregon, where his mother could carry on with her music career. When his parents moved to Astoria, Oregon, he attended Lewis and Clark Elementary and Astoria High School.

After serving two tours in the Vietnam War and being awarded the Purple Heart, George returned home to Astoria and eventually settled in Alaska. He worked for Silver Bay Logging in Cube Cove, on Admiralty Island, and Ketchikan from 1987 to 1998, transferring to work at the Wrangell sawmill until 2003.

In 2003, he secured a position with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Virginia and retired in 2014 to move back to his beloved Alaska. "George felt the happiest when he was outdoors fishing and hunting and enjoying the beauty that surrounded him in Wrangell," his family wrote.

George is survived by his three children: Tyler Phillips, of Astoria; Christopher Phillips, of Walla Walla, Washington; and Anastasia Phillips, of Stephen City, Virginia; and his three sisters: Kathy Hayden, of Peabody, Massachusetts; Karen Sarnaker, of Nehalem, Oregon; and Nellie Johanson, of Astoria.