William Atwell Phillips

William Atwell Phillips, Sr. passed away on October 2, 2025, in Richmond, Virginia at the age of 88. He was born on November 14, 1936, in Brunswick County, Virginia to Atwell Osborne Phillips and Katherine Lee Doyle. He was close to his stepmother, Laura Phillips. He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, William Atwell Phillips, Jr. and Robin Wingen Phillips and Stephen Doyle Phillips and Tiffany Cutts Phillips. He had a particularly close relationship with his grandsons, Cole William Phillips and his wife Sarah Long Phillips, and Tanner Richard Phillips. William’s primary focus in life was being a devoted husband and loving father as well as the patriarch of the family.

William (W.A.) graduated from Brunswick High School and moved to Richmond, Virginia where he learned the trade of an electrician and went to work at Tate and Hill Electric. He married Carolyn Jewell Nicholson in 1960 and remained with her until her passing in March of 2024. He worked for Tate and Hill for over six decades, rising from an electrician to President to CEO by 2017. He loved his job and the men he worked with were a second family for him.

W.A. loved spending time with his family and his grand dogs, Cruz and Benny. His passion for high quality duck decoys was a great comfort to him in his later years. He loved collecting them along with paintings of ducks and nature scenes, particularly of the water.

W.A. lived a life of integrity and dedication to work and family. He wanted to extend special thanks to his daughter-in-law, Robin Wingen Phillips for all the care she extended during his illness and he was blessed with two daughters-in-law he loved very much.

A visitation will be held at Williams Funeral Home – 410 Windsor Avenue, Lawrenceville, VA. 23838, on October 17, 2025, at 1:00PM with a celebration of life at 2:00PM. A private family burial will be held immediately after at Philadelphia United Methodist Church at 6072 Triplet Rd, Lawrenceville, VA 23868. The family asks that donations be given to Philadelphia United Methodist Church in lieu of flowers.