After two years at Texas A&M, at age 18 his formal education was interrupted when his A&M Corp Unit deployed to Europe as Infantry in World War II. Having achieved Marksman status at A&M, he was placed on the front lines where he was wounded twice and additionally injured by flying shrapnel, subsequently being awarded three Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars for his valiant service. At the end of WWII, he returned to A&M and had the good fortune of meeting with famed Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who noted in the class to Whit, “you are the one”. Inspired by this, Whit went on to earn a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University. Upon leaving university, he had a stint designing aircraft parts, but was not satisfied in being unable to appreciate his work, as it was tucked away deep inside a large machine where he could not see it. He wanted to do more Architecture, as opposed to Mechanical Engineering, so he worked for small Architectual firms in the Dallas, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico areas. Henry “Whit” Phillips Jr. was born in rural north east Texas near Texarkana Texas on June 11 1924 to the parents of Henry Whit Sr. and Della Mae Davis. Raised as an only child during hard times of the Great Depression, Whit helped his parents around the small grocery store and butcher shop serving the community, learning the values of perseverance, hard work and education. Completing high school at the age of 16, he left home and enrolled at Texas A&M University as a Member of the Corps of Cadets. In the early 1950s, he accepted a job as Texas State Health Department Consultant Architect in Austin from 1952-55, overseeing the distribution of the Hillburton Funds allocated for hospital construction in the state. Over this time, he started raising a family of three girls and was offered a position at the prestigious architectural firm of Page Southerland Page Architects (PSP), who had a renowned history in some of the design and construction of the Texas State Capitol in the 1880s. During his long tenure with PSP, Whit expanded his Official accreditation and expertise across many states in the U.S; along with many major projects internationally. As an American Institue of Architects Emeritus, and with a detail orientation and design style towards functionality, Whit specialized in Health Care, Hospitals, Government, and Science facilties around the world. A few projects he was proud of include The University of A&M Medical School; The Ohio State University Clinical Medical Educational Science Facility; The U.S. Airforce Wilford Hall Military Hospital and more, thus achieving him the status of Partner within the firm. His knowledge, professionalism and diplomacy was instrumental in helping to expand PSP’s global presence, and afforded him the opportunity to travel extensively abroad to 108 countries. Over his long life, he was a man of few words and much action, and many times over lived upto his nickname, “Witty Whit”. He will be deeply missed by so many. “Gig ‘Em Whit!” Whit is preceded in death by his parents Whit Sr. and Della Mae, his wife Betty Jo, his daughter Dianna Dee “Deedie” Arnold, and his stepson Steven Duke. Whit is survived by his immediate family of Elizabeth Phillips, Debra Phillips; and his extended family of Robert Arnold, Kia and Jordan Hugghins, wife Dorothy “Dotty” and her grandson Isral Duke; Dotty’s daughter Cheri Yori and her three children, Melissa Martin, Stephanie Yori, and Phillip Yori. The following are photos, links and other published references to Whit’s extraordinary life, with additional imagery, details and audio recordings being inserted in the future, as they are discovered and compiled for publication. If you have a story or image that you would like to share here, then please send an email to the family at whitphillipsjr@gmail.com to make arrangements. The whole family would like to send a sincere “Thank You and Blessings” to everyone that has already come forward with kind words, stories and photos of their time with him. It means so much to us to know how deeply he was loved and appreciated by so many. ________________________________________________________________ Additional References: Neptune Society: https://obituaries.neptunesociety.com/obituaries/fort-worth-tx/henry-phillips- 10218109