Earl Phillips Passes Away
Borough of Fanwood
Earl Phillips, who spent his life in service to others as a Fanwood first responder, volunteer, and Naval veteran, passed away in February at his long-time home on Poplar Place in Fanwood after a long illness. He was 102.
Mr. Phillips’ legacy lives on across all of Fanwood’s first responder agencies. He was a founding member of the Fanwood Rescue Squad in 1948. At the time, he was a member of the Fanwood Volunteer Fire Department and was a Fanwood police officer for 35 years, joining the department in 1946. He retired from the police department as a sergeant in 1981. He continued serving the town as a member of the Shade Tree Commission into his 90s.
Photo by Tom Kranz
Mr. Phillips enlisted in the U.S. Navy on July 2, 1942, just a couple weeks after his high school graduation and served in World War II in the European and Pacific theaters of the war, where he was involved in sea-based logistics of combat operations. He was stationed offshore on a navy ship in the British Channel during America’s invasion of Normandy and served on both the USS Thomas Jefferson and USS ATR-3. The majority of his service involved troop transport. He was discharged on December 17, 1945 as a Quartermaster Second Class and received a Good Conduct Medal, an Asiatic Pacific Ribbon, a European Theater Operation Ribbon, and four stars.
He was among several other WWII vets honored during the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Memorial Day celebration in 2020. He was named grand marshal of the parade in 2015.
In 2021, a contingent of Fanwood Police officers visited him to celebrate his 100th birthday. He turned 102 this past October.
Mr. Phillips was predeceased by his wife of 72 years, Margaret “Peggy” Phillips, in 2022; his daughters, Lori Jean Phillips, in 2002, and Ginger Louise Balzer, in 2013. He was also pre-deceased by his grandson, Evan S. Phillips, in 2010.
He is survived by his daughter Valerie Hardy, son Roger D. Phillips and his wife, Marie, son-in-law, Al Balzer, and four grandchildren.
Photos courtesy of the Phillips family
