Rev. Willie Lee Phillips

THE REV. WILLIE LEE PHILLIPS ASHEVILLE – The Rev. Willie Lee Phillips, 89, of Asheville, died Thursday, March 24, 2011, at MedWest Haywood Regional Hospital. A native of Greenville, SC, he was a son of the late Marion J. and Edna Anderson Phillips. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Hermie Mae Morrow Phillips, by a son, Willie Lee Phillips, Jr., sisters Lithie Ellis, Lucille Kidd, and Alice Hooper; and brother James Phillips. Mr. Phillips was a Veteran of the U.S. Army, having served during WWII. He worked for the American Enka Corp., and Rayon Research. He formerly pastured several Nazarene churches in North and South Carolina. He was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene, Asheville. He is survived by a daughter, Mary P. Sizemore and husband Gene of Clyde; grandsons the Rev. Jennings Sizemore and wife Tammi of Canton, and Brian Sizemore and wife Shaundra of Canton; great-grandchildren Kaylee and Justin Sizemore and Brian Sizemore, Jr., all of Canton. A funeral service will be at 3:00 p.m. Sunday in the Patton Avenue chapel of Groce Funeral Home, with the Rev. Jennings Sizemore officiating. Interment will follow at Pisgah View Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Harold Herron, Jim Odum, Floyd Austin, Gene Sizemore, Jennings Sizemore, and Brian Sizemore. His family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.