James Lawrence Phillips Sr.

Wewoka resident James Lawrence Phillips Sr. passed away Monday, February 20, 2023, at his home, at the age of 84.

James, the son of Raymond and Georgia Rose (Miller) Phillips, was born April 19, 1938, in Pampa Texas.  He proudly served in the US Navy.  In the Navy James became a journeyman boiler maker, which he carried into civilian life.  On May 23, 1961, James married Pauline Flanary, in Madera, California.  As James continued his work in the oil field, he was a boiler maker and a truck driver, hauling all different types of oil around California and Texas.  Whether you knew him as James, Pops, Poppa Honey, or Jimbo, he cared deeply for you as a family member or a friend.  He loved western movies, particularly John Wayne films.  James enjoyed fishing, he spent a great deal of time with his dad and brother at Delta-Mendota in the San Joaquin Valley in central California.  He loved boating or “boat floatin” as he and Pauline referred to it.  James and Pauline enjoyed going to the movies, they would frequently load up on “gedunks”, a Navy term for snacks, and go to the drive-in theater in Bakersfield.  When things didn’t work, James would take them into his shop and fixed them, he was an exceptional repairman.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Pauline; his parents; brothers, Donald, Jerry, and Paul; sisters, Georgia and JoAnn; a son, James L. Phillips Jr.; and a grandson Johnnie T. Silva III and a granddaughter, Heather, Dawn.

Pops is survived by daughters and sons-in-law, Elizabeth and Frederick Shakeshaft of Wewoka, and Robin and Matthew Olsavsky, of Cambridge, Maryland;  son and daughter-in-law Sam and Sarah Hughes of Wewoka; grandchildren, Johnnie, Kevin, Douglas, Mellissia, Kristen, Amie, Joseph, Timothy, Nathan, Jake, James III, Angela, Lance, Robert, Heather, Gabrielle, and a whole lot of great grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law Kenneth and Loretta Phillips, of Chowchilla, CA; sisters Viola Lopez, of Artesia N.M., and Judy Taylor of Breckenridge TX;  along with many other family and friends.

James will be available for viewing Monday from 10:00 A.M. until 7:00 P.M., the family will be available for visitation that evening from 4:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M.

Services will be Tuesday, February 28, 2023, at 2:00 P.M. at Glad Tidings Church, with Pastor James Jackson, officiating.  Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Wewoka.  Services are under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home in Seminole.