Ellen Jean Phillips

Ellen Jean Phillips was born in Colton, CA., San Bernardino County, on April 21, 1939, at 2: 15 am, to Mr. & Mrs. Charles Terrence Sandlin. The Sandlin's only child, Ellen, was cherished; she recalled, "I learned the value of hard work and thrift from my father. I learned kindness and grace from my mother."

Ellen graduated from Colton Union High School at the top of her class. For health reasons, Ellen could not attend her 65th reunion this past April. "I was voted 'best preserved' at my last reunion," she recalled laughingly.

Ellen first saw her life partner Jack Leslie Phillips at Colton High. "I'd noticed him, but he was three years my senior. A girlfriend from church invited me on a blind date, and there he was! And, no, we didn't date much. I wanted to go to the prom(s), and he was too old." Ellen graduated in 1957 at the top of her high school class. She went to U.C. Riverside, graduating with degrees in Psychology, Math, and Education.

On the heels of graduation, Ellen Sandlin and Jack Phillips were married at the Methodist church in their hometown of Colton, California, and from then on, they were "Jack and Ellen." Inseparable.

Jack's technical engineering took him from California to Texas to Washington, DC. In 1969 Jack's job brought them back to California. "Jack had top-secret security clearance with the U.S. government; I guess you could say he was a spy," Ellen admitted after Jack passed in 2017. "My Renaissance Man."

Ellen discovered their final home on Mt. Helix in 1973, "It was perfect. Everything we'd always wanted, the land, the barns, and, oh, yes, the house." By all accounts, their home was a showplace.

Ellen loved her books, her home, her dogs (all named Fritzi), and Mt Helix, but mostly her neighbors and many friends. "We'd all meet on our walks," a neighbor remembers. If you weren't a friend of Ellen's, you wanted to be. "She was a very special person."

Ellen passed from our site on the morning of May 31., 2022, at home among friends, as beautiful as ever, with dignity, grace, and courage.

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day

Nothing gold can stay.

We loved you so much. ~

Please, no flowers.

If you wish, donate in Memory of Ellen Phillips

Care of:

National Trust for Historic Preservation: @SavingPlaces

Attention: Ross Bradford - RBradford@savingplaces.org