Sept. 5, 1944 – March 2, 2024

Funeral services for Vernon Don Phillips, 79, were held at 12 p.m. on Friday, March 8, 2024, at Way of the Cross Free Will Baptist Church in Sallisaw.

Burial followed at Miners Cemetery under the direction of Mallory-Martin Funeral Home and Crematory of Stigler.

Mr. Phillips was born on Sept. 5, 1944, in McCurtain, to Joe and Thelma (Davis) Phillips. He died on Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Greenwood, Ark.

He was a graduate of McCurtain High School and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Conflict. He worked as an Oklahoma State Trooper for 35 years, retiring in February 2009. He also retired from the Oklahoma National Guard.

Survivors are his wife, Betty, of the home; one son, Bill Phillips and wife Andrea of Fort Smith, Ark.; one granddaughter; one sister, Mary Teta of Dallas; and several other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and one sister, Martha Fox.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The American Cancer Society.