Senior Master Sergeant Donald L. Phillips, Retired United States Air Force and Vietnam War veteran, 86, passed away on Sunday, 15 September 2024.
He was born on 20 January 1938 in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He grew up in Thomas, West Virginia and graduated from Mountaineer High School. In 1958, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. While assigned to Torrejón Air Base, Spain, he met and married his wife, Maria. They were married for 62 years.
During the first 14 years of service in the Air Force he was a Firefighter. He was assigned to several stateside locations and foreign countries, including Spain and France. He was also stationed at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam serving on airfield emergency response for combat aircraft crash and recovery. During an emergency response to a crash landing, Sergeant Phillips was injured while extracting a pilot from a burning aircraft. As a result, he was cross-trained to assume duties as a training manager and superintendent for the aircraft maintenance career field which included developing Tactical Air Command master training plans for reception of the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter aircraft into the Air Force inventory in the mid 1970’s.
He was also a renowned expert in maintenance training and standardization. He authored the Air Force Aircraft Maintenance Training Program regulation for all fighter aircraft based worldwide and served as a unit evaluation inspector for Headquarters, United States Air Forces in Europe while assigned to Ramstein Air Base, Germany during the Cold War. He was also responsible for coordinating training requirements for 23 countries requiring Fighter aircraft training under the Foreign Military Assistance program and the Foreign Military Sales program. In 1984, he retired from the United States Air Force after 26 years of faithful and dedicated service to his country, settling in Orlando, Florida for the remainder of his life.
During his second career he became a certified HVAC/R professional. He was employed by McQuay Services, Wright Superior, and Johnson Controls while also serving as a faculty instructor for the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration program at Mid-Florida Technical Institute. He was eventually selected as the Contract Maintenance Site Manager for Naval Training Center Orlando before its closure in the late 1990’s. He fully retired in 2000.
He was friends with all of his neighbors having lived in the same home in Orlando for 40 years. He was quick to lend a hand, a tool, or his time and eventually repaired or replaced many of his neighbor’s air conditioners on his street among other things. He would never accept any payment other than a handshake, a smile, or a ‘thank you’.
He was preceded in death by his father William Blondie Phillips, mother Florence Mary Phillips, brothers and sisters Bill Phillips, Anna Shaffer, Tom Phillips, Jane Ponikvar, and Sally Touchette.
He is survived by his wife, Maria E. Phillips, their children Donald L. Phillips Jr., (wife Thea), Christine E. Phillips, and William M.C. Phillips (wife Rebecca), grandchildren Preston Phillips (wife Jenny), Sumyr Phillips (husband Andy), Rachael Phillips (husband Erik), Michael Phillips, Julia Phillips, Olivia Phillips, Vanessa Phillips, great-granddaughter Laina Kramer, and his sister Emily Lambruno.