Eldred M. Phillips

Eldred Mathew Phillips, age 89, of Owatonna, passed away April 3, 2015, at Koda Living in Owatonna. Friends may greet the family from 4-7:00 PM Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at the Brick-Meger Funeral Home (1603 Austin Rd), with a Medford/ Deerfield Knights of Columbus Rosary being recited at 7:00 PM. Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00am Wednesday, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Owatonna, with a one hour visitation prior the funeral. Military honors will be provided by the Steele County Funeral Unit. Interment Corpus Christi Cemetery, Deerfield Township. Eldred Mathew was born on August 9, 1925 in Blackhawk Co., Iowa to Theodore and Mary (Schmitz) Phillips. In 1931 his parents moved their four children to a farm in Rapidan Township south of Mankato. Eldred attended the Rapidan consolidated school and graduated in 1943. Because food was essential to the war effort, he was given a deferment to farm with his father until 1945. When the deferment was given to a younger brother, Eldred's name moved to the top of the draft board list. He managed to get into the Navy by passing a special test. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, he attended Mankato State College for one year before transferring to the University of Minnesota, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural education. This is where he met his wife Mary Trettel, and the two got married in Little Falls on December 27, 1949. After teaching vocational agriculture and science at Pine Island for three years, he went into farming. In 1955, Mary and Eldred purchased a farm in Deerfield where they lived for 30 years before moving to Owatonna. Eldred was a life member of the National Farmers Organization. He and his wife Mary were responsible for publishing the Steele County meeting notice and newsletter for 38 years. Eldred was a life member of the Medford/Deerfield Knights of Columbus, was a past Grand Knight serving in 1988-89 , the American Legion, Elks, the University of Minnesota Alumni Association and the Rapidan Historical Society. He served on the Medford School Board from 1973 to 1979, he also served on the Steele Co. Public Health Board for 23 years. Eldred was Knight of the year in 1984 and in 2012. In 1984 the Medford/Deerfield Knights shipped a container of ground corn to Tanzania during a drought period. After retirement Eldred enjoyed woodworking, wine-making, reading, gardening, keeping up with the stock market, traveling and most of all spending time with his family. Eldred is survived by his wife Mary, children Catherine (Larry) Glovka, of Owatonna, Carol (Charles) Anderson of Meriden Township, Michael Phillips of Deerfield Township, and Rosemary (James) York of Lake Wilson, MN; 12 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Norbert( Matilda "Tilly") Phillips of Canby, Joseph (Martha) Phillips of Good Thunder, MN; sisters, Mary Joan Phillips of Denville, NJ, and Marilyn (Donald) Sieberg of Mankato, and one sister-in-law Darlene Phillips, of Owatonna. He was preceded in death by his parents, and one brother Neal.