Margaret Irene Phillips

Margaret Irene (Coffinger) Phillips, formerly of Saratoga Springs, passed away Saturday June 11, 2005 at The Landing in Queensbury, N.Y.

Born in Schuylerville, N.Y., she was the daughter of the late Ernest Abram and Julia Agnes (Sinnott) Coffinger, and was a lifelong area resident.

A graduate of the Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals School of Nursing in New York City on November 28, 1940, she served as a Registered Nurse during her professional career. She had worked at the Saratoga Hospital maternity unit from 1941 to 1945 and at the New York State Veterans Camp at Mt. McGregor in Wilton from 1947 to 1960. She retired from the Middletown State Hospital in 1974, where she worked since 1961. She was a founding member and first vice-president of the Pine Bush Ambulance Squad in Pine Bush, N.Y. A charter den mother of Cub Scout Pack 24 in Wilton, she was a member of Boy Scout Troop 24 Women's Auxiliary. An avid golfer, she was a member of the Leisureville Golf League in Boynton Beach, Fla. Her interests included flower gardening, knitting and oil painting. She enjoyed oil painting the scenery around her second home in the Great Sacandaga Lake area, where the family summered since the early 1950's.

She was married to the late Eugene E. Phillips on July 22, 1945, who passed away on September 15, 1995.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by one sister, Violet Green and two brothers, Paul and Ernest Coffinger.

Survivors include two sons, Eugene Edward Phillips and his wife, Cynthia, of Wilton, and William Ernest Phillips and his wife, Joyce, of the Town of Moreau; two sisters, Julia Ernst of Schuylerville and Ann Miner of Florida; two sisters-in-law, Marian Coffinger of Salem and Mary Murray of Saratoga Springs; four grandchildren: William Phillips of Norfolk, Va., Jeffrey Phillips of Glens Falls, Keith Phillips of Malta and Katie Phillips of Clifton Park; four great-grandchildren: Jack and Matthew of Norfolk and Ethan and Benjamin of Malta; as well as several nieces and nephews.

Friends may call from 5-8 PM on Tuesday at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway, 518-584-5373 or burkefuneralhome.com.

Funeral services will be held at 9:30 AM on Wednesday at the United Methodist Church of Saratoga Springs, corner of Fifth Ave. and Henning Rd. The Rev. Dr. Brolin Parker, pastor, will officiate. Burial will follow in St. Peter's Cemetery, West Ave.

Memorials may be made in her name to High Peaks Hospice, Inc., 286 Glen St., Glens Falls, NY 12801, or the Pine Bush Volunteer Ambulance Corps., P.O. Box 407, Pine Bush, NY 12566.