Pamela Patricia Phillips

In Respect and Remembrance of
Pamela Patricia Phillips
Pamela Patricia Phillips was born in a house on December 5, 1953, in Portageville,
Missouri to Mattie Taylor and Willie Frank "Abaria" (pronounced AW-bree)
Phillips.
Pamela's humble beginnings and formative years were spent in Walls, Mississippi.
There she was reared by her great-grandparents, Annie Bell (aka Sue) Clark and
her husband John Henry Cathey, until they became too elderly to care for her. In
Pamela's pre-teens she moved back to Portageville, Missouri and lived with her
grandmother Louise Taylor and her aunt Minnie Lee Taylor. Pamela was close in
age and raised alongside her aunt Minnie's children; Richard (aka Little Richard)
Morgan, Anthony (aka Luke) Noel, and Myra Noel. Despite considerable distance
from her child, her mother, Mattie, was a household manager for a prestigious
attorney in Chicago, Illinois. This enabled her to provide and support Pamela
financially.
Pamela was a gentle soul with a sweet and quiet disposition which at times made
her intriguing. Sometimes you would catch her smiling to herself as though she
had a secret or inside joke that you wanted in on.
Pamela would stay in Portageville where she began a family of three children;
Darryl, Nicole, and Denee. In the late summer of 1975, Pamela moved her family
to Indio, California where she would be near her uncle Richard Taylor, who lived
in Indio and owned a trucking company. Richard and Pamela's mother, Mattie,
combined their funds to purchase a home for Pamela and her three children.
Shortly after, in November 1977 Pamela welcomed her aunt Annie Frazier into her
home, along with Annie's three children; Ronald, Anitha, and Dionne, all of whom
had arrived from Portageville. Much like Portageville, Indio was a small rural
remote town; they exchanged the Mississippi River for the Salton Sea- as well as
a country lifestyle with flowering dogwood trees and sparrows, for an arid,
sweltering desert with date palms and roadrunners.
A few years later Pamela's grandmother, Louise and her aunt Minnie joined the
migration to Indio, California, bringing the family back together again. Some of
the most joyous times of the family gatherings were when Pamela designated
herself the baker of the family's birthday cakes. She created memories and brought
smiles to the hearts of us eager children.
Pamela's favorite pastimes were reading novels and magazines. She took pleasure
in reading her Bible. She also enjoyed the thought-provoking challenge of word
games and solving crossword and jigsaw puzzles. However, her true guilty
pleasure was immersing herself in the lives of the characters of her favorite
daytime soap opera "General Hospital."
Life challenges and heartbreaks began when her dear cousin Luke died suddenly,
followed by her grandmother Louise, and tragically her only son Darryl whose life
was unfairly taken. Although the life of her son could never be replaced, the Lord
had blessed her with her one granddaughter and five grandsons. The family that
once lived in a home in Indio began to grow and build their own lives.
Pamela was first introduced to Jesus Christ in her most formative years at New
Hope Baptist Church in Walls, Mississippi. After she returned to her birth state of
Missouri, she did not attend church for many years. Eventually, Pamela
rededicated her life to the Lord in August 1998, becoming a member of First
Baptist Church of Indio. In 2011, she transferred her membership to Second
Baptist Church in Indio, where she fellowshipped for several years.
In 2008, after 23 years of employment, with quite a few awards of recognition,
Pamela retired from Coachella Valley Unified School District located in Thermal,
California. Two years later in 2010, after eight years of employment, she also
retired from Securitas Security Services in Palm Desert, California.
Pamela eventually moved from Indio to Palm Desert, then to Bermuda Dunes,
before settling into a charming senior community in Rancho Mirage, California in
2016. As her health began to decline, her devoted granddaughter Ashleigh moved
in to assist her with her day-to-day needs and errands. A few years later, Ashleigh
became her caregiver and unofficial nurse. After several trips to the hospital and
medical procedures, Ashleigh, Nicole, and Denee along with Nicole's youngest
son Tyrese and Denee's eldest son, March took on the task of caring for Pamela.
They ensured Pamela was comfortable at home during her hospice stay, opening
the home to family and loved ones to be with her and say their final words.
On Thursday, September 18, 2025, during the evening of a torrential downpour
Pamela went home to be with the Lord. Creation preparing us for tears as the
desert rain poured relentlessly. Her family was at her bedside when she peacefully
transitioned.
Pamela was preceded in death by her great-grandmother Annie Bell Clark, her
great-grandfather John Henry Cathey, her grandmother Louise Taylor, her son
Darryl Maurice Phillips, her mother Mattie Taylor, her father Willie Frank Phillips,
her cousin Anthony Noel, her uncle Richard Taylor and aunt Minnie Lee Taylor.
She is survived by two daughters, Nicole D. (Don) Jones of Palm Desert, CA and
Denee L. (Norman) de los Santos of Indio, CA. One granddaughter; Ashleigh S.
Brown and five grandsons; Darryl M. Brown, Kevonte L. Woods, Tyrese J. Jones,
March A. de los Santos, and Noble R. de los Santos as well as two great-
grandchildren; Nevaeh S. Brown and Damien A. Brown.
Pamela's legacy lives on in the hearts and memories of her loved ones including a
host of aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives and friends. Pamela was loved and adored
by her family-she will be dearly missed.