Jacky Carmon Phillips

We celebrate the life of Jacky Carmon Phillips. Carmon was born on July 8th, 1941 in Corinth, Mississippi to Delford Roy and Ruth Phillips. He is survived by his wife, of 53 years, Candace Richards Phillips, one daughter Wren (Jim) Robbins, and one grandson, Easton Robbins (age 13), who called him "Papa Jack". Carmon was preceded in death by his parents and four siblings.

Carmon was the baby brother to his other siblings. Their dad was a small-town farmer and mom was a homemaker, and life was simpler then. No airs about them, just basic, salt of the earth people who attended the local Baptist church and raised their five kids with an incredible work ethic and strong family ties. They all grew up working on the farm from picking cotton to curing ham in the smokehouse. It might have been a simpler time, but make no mistake, there was hard work involved, and that's not a bad thing.

During his days at Farmington High School, Carmon was very active in the 4-H Club (Four values standing for Head-Heart-Hands & Health) and 4-H was a big deal in small towns. He was president of the 4-H Junior Council when he was age 17 and at age 18, was elected Northeast District Vice President of the State Council. He was State Winner in areas of corn growing, beef, and cotton along with other agricultural programs. He eventually won a trip to Chicago for his 4-H awards and for a small-town boy, that definitely was a big deal! In 1957, he won the Alcorn County Tractor Driving Contest, in which we teased him later in life, but boy he could parallel park a car almost without looking, which in today's world, many students aren't even required to do.

Hometown sports were also big in small towns, so Carmon found himself playing basketball and baseball for the local school. Even though small in stature, he was a great player in both these fields, and over the years, their teams found themselves going to playoffs a few times. *Many years later, Carmon would find himself playing for Bellevue's baseball team and also a baseball team for the Holiday Inn home offices.

Since Carmon was the baby of the family, he was the last one to choose his path in life. He joined the Air Force during the time that the Vietnam War was in full swing back in the 1960's. He went to Basic Training in Biloxi Mississippi and then was headed to Vietnam, but at the last minute, his orders changed and he was sent to Misawa Air Force Base in Japan, where he spent the remainder of his military duty. He loved being in the Air Force and the friends he made, many who are still friends to this day. He also loved the people of Japan. He appreciated the care and honor that they gave their elders.

Once returning to the states, he continued his education and worked in midtown Memphis for part of that time. Eventually, finding his way to the home offices of Holiday Inns, Inc. on Lamar Avenue, where he was a Traffic Manager, specifically assigned to exporting supplies and goods all around the world to Holiday Inn properties. One day a girl named Candy Richards walked in looking for a job. Mr. Jessen and Carmon Phillips hired her, and she became their new secretary. Needless to say, Carmon and Candy were married in 1972 when they settled in and began their life together. Carmon and Candy continued working for the home offices of Holiday Inn, but Candy found herself moving to a different division of the company, because back then (at least at Holiday Inn, Inc), you could not work for the same company if your spouse also worked there. Moving to another division took care of that.

In 1979, their daughter, Wren, was born. Candy became a stay-at-home mom and Carmon continued with Holiday Inn, until the entire Holiday Inn operation moved to Atlanta. Carmon and Candy felt led to stay in the mid-south area and so he became the traffic manager at W.M. Barr Chemical Company, located on President's Island in Memphis. Over the years, Carmon had a great relationship with W.M. Barr, and worked with Barbara Robbins, who happened to have a son named Jim, who would marry Wren and become his son-in-law. Jim and Wren have a son named Easton and Carmon became a granddaddy who would eventually begin teaching Easton how to drive a tractor (Remember the Tractor Driving Contest). Coming full circle….

He and Candy have been long-time members of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, with Carmon serving as a deacon, a faithful Life Group member, having served in EE (Evangelism Explosion), and he and Candy taught 2nd grade Sunday School for 26 years. I guess you could say that he's just been an all-around faithful and supportive member of this great church, which he has called home for 53 years

For those of you who knew him really well, Carmon had a dry sense of humor and could be a bit mischievous with his humor, tossing out a one-line zinger and we would all fall out! He also had a love for fishing – it was probably considered his favorite hobby where he could unwind, pray by a lakeside, and enjoy the outdoors, while waiting for that 'big catch'.

This gentle and kind man is now walking the streets of gold and is with family and friends who have gone before him. He is seeing Jesus, the author and finisher of his faith since that day back in 1972 when he wanted to 'nail down' his salvation and he repented of his sin and asked Jesus to be the Lord of his life. It doesn't get any better than that…..

We love you Carmon ~ you will be missed.

…So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20b-21

Visitation for family and friends is planned for Thursday, February 19, 2026, from 10:00AM until the Funeral Service begins at 12:00PM, all at Bellevue Baptist Church – Pollard Chapel, 2000 Appling Road, Cordova, Tennessee.

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For those who wish to honor Carmon's life by memorial donation, the family requests you give to Bellevue's Library and Bookstore.