"He was a great friend and he was like family to us," said Michelle White, the wife of Bob White, the Sullivan County commissioner whom Phillips called his "personal secretary."

For nearly 10 years, until early 2016, Phillips wrote a history column in the Bristol Herald Courier called "Pioneers in Paradise," named after one of his many history books on the Twin City.

Phillips had lived at Commonwealth Seniors Living at Abingdon for the past year. Yet, for several decades, he had lived at Solar Hill at a home called Pleasant Hill, in Bristol, Virginia.

The Arkansas native moved to Bristol in 1953. His many professions included home decorating. He was also a minister, and he loved to collect antiques, especially clocks. 

Phillips had his first book published on Bristol history in 1992 by The Overmountain Press.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

jtennis@bristolnews.com | 276-791-0709 | @BHC_Tennis