Richard Carson Phillips was born November 19, 1940, in Omaha, Nebraska, to David Norton and Ramona Ruth (Poe) Phillips. He was the oldest of three children, preceded in death by sister Linda and brother Keith.

He passed away May 23, 2026, due to complications from recently diagnosed lung cancer.

As a young teen, Rick’s family moved to Dallas. Upon graduating from Woodrow Wilson HS, he attended Texas A&M College and became a life-long, die-hard Aggie.

After graduation, Rick served in the Army and married Marsha Dublin. Over the next seven years they lived in several places and had two children, Sharon and Kenneth, eventually landing in Sherman Texas.

In 1989, Rick married Sandra Edman and gained two daughters, Lisa and Laura. They enjoyed 37 years of marriage and many rounds of golf, the game which brought them together.

Professionally, Rick worked as an Industrial Engineer for Johnson & Johnson and later Baxter Converters, designing hospital supplies and equipment. When he retired from Baxter, he opened a coffee shop in El Paso with wife Sandy (“Kristophs”) and after selling the shop, they served as House Parents at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch in Amarillo. After retiring from their retirement, they settled in at Sun City Texas in Georgetown.

Rick had several hobbies, the two most notable were his love of golf and the Texas A&M Aggies. One of the highlights each year, whether in El Paso, Amarillo, or Sun City, was playing in the member/guest golf tournament with his son, being fortunate enough to place 1st at least once at each club. On any fall Saturday, he could be found “loudly encouraging” his Aggies from his chair. He also enjoyed crossword puzzles and reunions with his A&M Corp group. In Sun City, he served as golf ambassador for his neighborhood and was co-founder of the Couples Golf Association.

One of life’s joys for Rick was becoming “Ducky” to numerous grandchildren. He was named this because of his talent for mimicking Donald Duck noises to the delighted grandchildren, and later great-grandchildren.

Rick was a devoted Christian, serving in multiple ministries in his church in Amarillo, including teaching 1st grade Sunday School. He also served with the Kairos Prison Ministry for over 5 years. The day before he passed, Rick was surrounded by Sandy and all 4 children, and he spoke a beautiful prayer saying he was ready to “jump into the arms of God”.

Rick is survived by his wife, Sandra; children Sharon (Brian) Ratcliff, Kenneth (Marie) Phillips, Lisa (Ken) Ross and Laura (Eric) Britting; grandchildren Christian, Alex and Andrew Ratcliff, Victoria (Erik) Houdek, Kate Phillips, Kristen and Christopher Schrader, Zoe (Bryan) Brown, Sidney Serfontein, Taelor (Nick) Stewart, Madi (Ryan) Neill, Christopher (Easley) Thomas, Sherry (James) Duke, Christina Britting, Stephanie Britting (David Hernandez), Ashlee (Tylar) Maza; great-grandchildren Kason Houdek, Nicholas and Collins Stewart, Rowen Neill, Jared Dougherty, Ember Maza; brother-in-law Craig (Donna) Sellman and several nieces and nephews.

Graveside service will be held at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen on Friday, July 17 at 11:00am followed at 1:00pm by a Memorial Service and Reception at Grace Bible Church in Georgetown.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of Rick’s favorite charities, Disabled American Veterans, at help.dav.org