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Former judge, lawyer Charles Phillips dies at 84
By RITA FARLOW
Published May 21, 2006
Charles Moore Phillips Jr. of Madeira Beach, a former Clearwater city attorney and Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court judge for more than two decades, died Friday at Arden Courts in Seminole. He was 84. Mr. Phillips was born at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater on Feb. 23, 1922, and was a lifelong resident of the area. A 1939 graduate of St. Petersburg High School, Mr. Phillips earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1943 from the University of Florida, where he also graduated from the College of Law in 1948. While attending UF in 1943, Mr. Phillips enlisted in the Army and became a platoon tank leader for the Third Platoon, Company A, of the 778th Tank Battalion under Gen. George S. Patton. He was awarded a Purple Heart, Silver Star and Distinguished Service Cross. Mr. Phillips was Clearwater's city attorney from 1951 to 1955. In July 1961, then-Gov. Farris Bryant appointed him a Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court judge. He also spent about 25 years as a practicing lawyer, both before his appointment as a judge and after his retirement from that post. Mr. Phillips was the president of the Clearwater Bar Association in 1961, and a member of the Florida Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He was a four-year member of the State Welfare Board and served on the board of directors for the Clearwater Rotary Club, Goodwill Industries and the Adult Mental Health Clinic of Pinellas County. He also served on the advisory board of the Pinellas Association for Retarded Children and the executive board of the Pinellas Area Council of Boy Scouts of America. Survivors include his wife of 25 years, Jo Ann; two sons, Charles M., Tarpon Springs, and William, Largo; a stepson, Gregory Gatlin, Mentone, Ala.; two daughters, Constance Clement, Tarpon Springs, and Dana Calderbank, Granger, Ind.; a stepdaughter, Gay Huggett, Redington Shores; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Monday at Lakeside Chapel Mausoleum at Serenity Gardens Memorial Park, 13401 Indian Rocks Road, Largo. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Cancer Society, the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, Hospice of the Florida Suncoast or a charity of choice.
[Last modified May 21, 2006, 07:03:48]
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