Gene Montague Phillips

Gene Montague Phillips, 89, of St. Augustine, passed away on June 28, 2016, at Flagler Hospital. Born in Beaver, West Virginia, he grew up in Beckley and Sophia, West Virginia. He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, where he became commander of the Corps of Cadets and earned the Order of Cincinnatus as the top cadet in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Graduating in 1946, he then earned his master's degree in business administration at Harvard Business School. After serving in the United States Air Force during the Korean War, he moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where he was a business owner. After marrying, he moved to Chicago. He attended Northwestern Law School, where he served on the board of editors of the Law Review and was an elected member of the Order of the Coif before receiving his juris doctor degree in 1958. Settling in Chicago, he practiced law from 1958 until 1999. He moved to St. Augustine in 2000.
In 1973, he founded the Ancient Astronaut Society, an organization dedicated to the scientific and literary investigation of the origins of man and of the question of whether great civilizations existed prior to recorded history. The society ultimately had members around the world.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Doris Phillips; his children, Jorge Phillips, Pamela Talley, Gregory Phillips and Carlos Phillips; and his grandchildren, Erica Talley, James Phillips and Thomas Phillips.