Carolyn Phillips

Carolyn Phillips was a quiet, gentle woman, a woman who found great contentment in her family, friends and faith. She found peaceful tranquility in playing the piano and in enjoying the great outdoors. Most of all, she loved being surrounded by the warmth and love of her family and friends.

Carolyn’s story began on a chilly fall day in 1919, in the bustling city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Those were times of great triumph and change around the globe, as World War I ended, and the Prohibition era began. On November 8, 1919, Peter and Jane (Fondse) VanderSys found even more reason to celebrate, with the birth of a beautiful baby girl, a daughter they named Carolyn.

Carolyn was the only child in the family’s home on the west side of the city, the neighborhood where she was raised, and where she would call home her entire life. As a young girl she learned to play the piano, and music and singing became a personal passion for her. Being an only child, Carolyn grew up with a natural independence, and was content with quiet solitude her whole life.

Of course, she wasn’t destined to live her life alone. After she graduated from Grand Rapids Union High School, Carolyn met a wonderful young man named James Phillips, and the sparks flew between them.

After dating for a few years, the happy couple was married in 1941, and settled right there on the city’s west side, the only place Carolyn had ever known.

Carolyn and James were blessed with four wonderful children in the coming years, sons James and Jack, and daughters Joan and Jean, who filled her life with such great pride and joy.

Carolyn was always a woman of great patience and contentment, which made her an excellent piano teacher later in life. She taught piano for a number of years, which she enjoyed greatly.

In her free time, Carolyn preferred to be outside, tending to her garden or walking in the park, either with her family by her side or by herself.

Sadly, Carolyn was involved in a car accident in 1994, which led to many health problems and eventually required her to move to the Christian Rest Home in 1995, where she lived the rest of her life. Her beloved husband James died in February of 2003, but her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren would visit her often to always brighten her day.

Carolyn died on Thursday, September 27, 2007, at the age of 87.

Carolyn was a wonderful woman, of such great patience, contentment and compassion for those around her. She was always content to keep to herself, though she was never alone. She had her family’s love in her heart, just as her love lives on in them today. She will be missed.

She is survived by her children, James E. and Elsie Phillips, Joan and George Kazemier, Jack and Kathy Phillips, and Jean Phillips; grandchildren Michelle and Kevin Schoenborn, Sherri and Karl Lemmen, Christine and Charles Krawczak, David Phillips, Jack and Shelly Phillips, Jonathan Phillips and Amy Phillips and 7 great grandchildren; sisters-in-law and brother-in-law Louise and Rokus De Blaay, Corinne Phillips and Margaret Phillips; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held on Saturday at 11 AM at Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes, 851 Leonard NW with Rev. Bill Fennema of Seventh Reformed Church officiating. Interment in Greenwood Cemetery. Friends may meet the family at the chapel on Friday from 2-4 and 6-8 PM. For those who wish, memorial contributions to the Christian Rest Home are appreciated. You may read more about Carolyn, share a memory or sign the guestbook by visiting www.lifestorynet.com.