James Raymond Phillips

James Raymond Phillips (Jim), 72, born on August 7, 1945, in Kansas City, Missouri, passed away September 14, 2017. Jim grew up in Kansas City, MO and attended William Jewel College where he was an accomplished debater. Jim went on to attend University of Michigan Law School and practice Family Law in Lansing, Michigan for nearly 30 years. In his early years he worked at legal aid and went on to spend 20 years with Ingham County Friend of the Court. His years in law were devoted to mediating and advocating for families and children. When his mother became ill, Jim moved to Southern California and dove into real estate and screenwriting during his retirement years. An athlete for life, he loved and competitively played racquet ball and more recently started playing pickle ball. He was also was a devout fan of the Kansas City Royals, Michigan Football and Michigan State University Basketball as well as ANY team his children, grandchildren and nephews played for!
Jim committed his life to improving that of others and was passionate about writing, the Democratic Party, Human & Equal Rights and above all his family. He devoted much of his time to these causes/activities but was most proud of the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren and impressed upon them the importance of education and fulfillment of goals.
He is survived by his daughters, Jamie (married to Mike Gentoso), and Beth (married to Mike Bath), his five grandchildren, Alisa, Cameron, Addison, Luca, and Noelle, his sister, Sandi Burrell, two nephews, Rodney Burrell, Richie (& Marcela) Burrell, and two great nephews Andrew and Aaron.
He resided at Leisure World in Southern California at the time of his passing.
A memorial service will be held at Leisure World Seal Beach @ 13533 Seal Beach Blvd, Seal Beach, CA 90740 on Thursday, September 21st from 12:00 - 3:00 pm, (spoken word at 1:00pm) at Clubhouse 3, Room #2.

For questions, please contact Jamie, jaiphill@aol.com.