Deborah Kay Phillips

Deborah Kay (Kirkwood) Phillips, 84, passed away peacefully Monday, November 10, 2025 at her home, surrounded by her family. She was born April 19, 1941, in Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Ill, to Jerome and Bertha Kirkwood. A few months later they moved to Huntington, Indiana, and there she graduated from Huntington High School in 1959. Debbie attended Ashland College and Columbia International University.
From the time she gave her life to Christ as a child, her heart was set on serving God and sharing Him with others. She led Vacation Bible Schools in eastern Kentucky with First Brethren youth and trained Bible club leaders in New York City with Children's Bible Fellowship. It was there, working at Camp Hope and Camp Joy, north of New York City, that she met her future husband. She and David were married August 24, 1968, in Jonesboro, Indiana. From there they moved to Columbia, South Carolina without a home or job, so Dave could attend Columbia Bible College. A woman of faith, creativity and resilience, she helped establish a home in a housing project that had just been integrated. Their son Michael was born during that time. Out of a childhood filled with some tough situations, she developed a heart of empathy, caring, and humor that drew people to her. Debbie served with her husband in ministry in Farmland, Indiana, and from 1975 until now served in ministry to Wabash Friends Church and the Wabash community. God gifted her with a way of loving and accepting people, of teaching the Bible personally and practically, and of drawing people out that enabled them to face their fears and pain. She was a woman filled with wonder, wisdom, wit, and warmth. She will be missed by many.
She is survived by her husband of more than 57 years, son Michael, and daughter-in-love Natalie, grandson Jedediah, granddaughter Carolina (Kyle) Kelsheimer and great granddaughters Wrigley and Ivy Kelsheimer; brother Jerome Buzz (Robin) Kirkwood, sister Melinda (Steve) Eckert, and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and great granddaughter Ella Kay Kelsheimer.
Funeral services will be 10:30 am, Thursday, November 13, 2025 at the Wabash Friends Church, 3563 S. State Road 13, Wabash. Burial will be in Friends Cemetery, Wabash. Friends may call 2:00 - 8:00pm, Wednesday, at the Wabash Friends Church Atrium. Arrangements by Grandstaff-Hentgen Funeral Service, Wabash.
Instead of flowers, the family requests that gifts be given to the Deborah Kay (Kirkwood) Phillips Fund to send kids to camps from Wabash Friends Church and Josiah White's Foster Care. Gifts may be made out to Wabash Friends Church or the Community Foundation of Wabash County, earmarked to the fund.
The memorial guest book for Deborah may be signed at www.grandstaff-hentgen.com. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Deborah Kay Phillips, please visit our floral store.