Robert J. Phillips Sr.

Robert J. Phillips, Sr., 87, of Hanover, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, February 28, 2026. He was the beloved husband of Hazel S. (Shelton) Phillips, who passed away November 29, 2023.

Born August 10, 1938, in Pine Swamp, NC, he was the son of the late Granville A. and Mary V. (Taylor) Phillips.

Pop will fondly be remembered for his love of family. He enjoyed camping, farming, bluegrass festivals and music, fishing, and bowling (ten-pin and duckpin). His career spanned many trades - from dump truck driving to delivering milk door-to-door for Royal Dairies, to working at Hanover Shoe Manufacturing and U.S. Postal delivery, before retiring from Sunoco Products. His last fishing trip was at Codorus Lake in the fall of 2025.

Our hearts are broken as we reminisce the camping excursions to bluegrass festivals, the times sitting around the TV watching NASCAR races, NFL (Ravens) and college football (Penn State) games, tennis matches, boxing, and any sport imaginable. The six of us lined up at the calf corral holding bottles to feed those young calves that he purchased at stock sales, always 6 at a time. The family cookouts, family reunions in North Carolina and the ones we had here locally in more recent years. Dad always had a funny in stressful situations such as the inventor "Seymour Heiney" of hospital gowns, that he shared with a nurse recently. He claimed to be a jack of all trades, but master to none, but could fix anything. He would come for any of us at the drop of hat if we were in need of anything. He was the brick and mortar who held our family together on the foundation that he and mom built together for 66 years, before her passing.

Robert is survived by six children: Brenda (Peter) Smith of Hanover; Robert Phillips Jr. of Hanover; Tony (Christine) Phillips of Glenville; Rick (Robin) Phillips of Westmoreland, TN; Tina Phillips of Smyrna, TN; and Terry (Beth) Phillips of Hanover. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, two sisters: V. Claudene (Phillips) Spence and Shirley (Phillips) Miller, and the family cat, Miss Kitty.

In addition to his wife and parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Thomas G. Phillips; sister, E. Jean Toomey Weikert; daughter-in-law, Cathy Phillips; granddaughter, Jessica Phillips; and step-grandchildren Zachary Link and Shannon Bartlett.

A memorial service celebrating Robert and Hazel's lives will be held at 11am on Saturday, April 11th, 2026 at Wetzel Funeral Home Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc; 549 Carlisle St. in Hanover with Rev. Scott Sager officiating. Interment will follow in Rest Haven Cemetery in Hanover. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 10am until the start of the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) and/or the Alzheimer's Association (https://donorservices.alz.org)

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