There is an expression that goes: "Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy". Well, my brothers and I had a Daddy. Sadly, on June 13, 2007, we lost our Dad on the Wednesday before Father's Day. Father's Day was surprisingly easy last year- I guess we were still in shock. However, as this Father's Day approaches, our loss is renewed again.

Noel Eugene "Gene" Phillips was born on May 23, 1932, the youngest of the twelve children of James and Theresa Phillips. He was born in Conasauga but lived most of his early life in Georgia. As the baby in that large family, he received lots of attention, especially from the older sisters who petted him. When Daddy was a teenager, his father died.

Daddy attended schools in Murray County and graduated from Murray County High School in 1950. In 1956, his cousin, Wanda Phillips Young, introduced him to her friend Barbara Milen. They married on March 15, 1959. Daddy moved to Polk County and worked in various places over the next 12 years including Brown Stoveworks where he acquired the nickname of "Buttermilk". Their first child, Carla Jean, was stillborn and later they had three more children -- me and two sons, Tracy and Tim. In the early 1970s, he went to work for his brother-in·law at Ben Milen Wholesale Tires and he worked there until his retirement in 1994.

Mom and Daddy's plans for retirement were cut short. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1994 and fought it valiantly until her death in June, 1999. At first, Daddy was devastated by her loss but as time went on he began to enjoy life again. He bought a small pop-up camper and started going on camping trips. He particularly enjoyed going to Cherokee, NC in August to a revival held at one of the old churches in the reservation. The church had no electricity and the revival meetings reminded him of church when he was a child. He also went on two missionary trips, one to help build a Baptist church in Prince Edward Island, Canada and the other to New Orleans where they ministered to homeless people. He came back both times with a renewed spirit.

Our parents are our first teachers and our greatest influence. We learn many things from them. My father loved many things and I think that he instilled a love for those things in his children.

First, Daddy loved his God. When he was a young boy, he would walk to church, often by himself. He has told me about walking home from church when he was twelve years old and it would be dark and he would run because he was afraid. He was called to preach as a young married man, but he never pastored a church. Many people have said he was a great Sunday school teacher. He taught Sunday school at Mountain Springs Baptist Church for over 40 years. There were few things that he enjoyed more than a good church "meetin’". Sometimes he would get so happy he would cry.

Second, Daddy loved the word of God. Some of my earliest memories of my Dad are seeing him read his Schofield Bible late into the night. He could quote scripture better than anyone I know. He acquired an extensive library of Christian books and commentaries. His sister, Mozelle Burchfield, said when they were children in school, every morning they had chapel. Everybody in class loved it when Daddy got to speak because he would speak for a long time and they did not have to do their school work!As a school teacher today, I wish that we could have chapel every morning.

Third, Daddy loved his wife, "Bardy", and his children and his grandchildren. He never got over her death and often referred to her as his companion. He said that life was not the same after she died. They were together for 40 years and they were a good match. Their marriage set a good example for their children.

He was a hard worker. Most of his life he worked hard labor jobs. Mom stayed home to raise the family and he was a good provider. They were at their happiest when their three grandchildren came along - Will, Luke, and Seth (my brother Tracy and his wife Laina's children). When I married and brought two stepsons into the family, Blake and Alex, my Dad treated them as his grandchildren too.

Fourth, Daddy loved to pray and sing. How I wish that I could hear him do those things again. He always thanked God for his wife and family and he always put an emphasis on the word "children". It is a blessing for children to be prayed for by their parents. In fact, it is the most important thing that a parent can do for their children. He was the choir director at Mountain Springs and he loved good music. Toe-tapping, harmony gospel music was his favorite. In recent years, he had become a big fan of Alison Krauss and I took him to one of her concerts He got to meet her afterward and he just about cried.

Fifth, Daddy loved sports. When we were kids there were only three channels, no remote controls or ESPN. On weekends, he watched football and baseball and the "Wide World of Sports". When his grandsons played ball, he loved to go to those games as well. I do not know of many girls who watched as much sports as I did growing up. We watched Muhammad Ali box, Dorothy Hamill skate, and Hank Aaron break Babe Ruth’s record. When ESPN and satellite TV came along, he was in heaven. Now, he could watch sports all the time and some days he did.

Sixth, he loved to make friends. He never met a stranger and he loved to "cut up" with people. In the 1980s he started driving a tire truck and making local deliveries. Everywhere Daddy went, he made friends - the nursery, the Eddie Moreland insurance office, restaurants, the doctor, or the Polk County Baptist Association office. No waitress or nurse was safe from being aggravated by him. He paid attention to children and "picked" at them and they enjoyed it as much as he did. He believed the scripture that says “to have friends you must show yourself friendly."

In 2004, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and also had two eye surgeries. This was an extremely difficult time for him, but he came through the treatments and eventually was able to drive and read again. His health, however, continued to decline. On June 5, 2007, he went into the hospital for surgery and they found pancreatic cancer. They gave him two months to live The day after his surgery, Tracy asked Daddy what he thought and Daddy said, "I think that I am going home" A week later, he went home to be with his Lord and his wife.

It would be easy for me to go on about more things that Daddy loved -- to travel and see new places, to wear bright colors, hats, and suspenders, to chew tobacco, and to plant tomatoes. I think that he particularly enjoyed aggravating me. He would say or do something and then look at me sideways and grin to see my reaction. Every spring time he would buy me hanging baskets.

He was by no means perfect. Like all of us, he had his faults and failures but we are blessed that he was our Dad. Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy.