[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]John “Dillard” Phillips, 80, of Gastonia, passed away Saturday, January 18, 2025 at CaroMont Regional Medical Center after a short battle with prostate cancer. \u00a0He was born May 9, 1944 in Newport News, Virginia, a son of the late Jake and Irene Dillard Phillips.<\/p>\n
Dillard grew up in Cullowhee, North Carolina and graduated college at Western Carolina University where he received his Master’s Plus degree. \u00a0He began a teaching career in Thomasville, North Carolina where he taught for eight years. \u00a0He then went on to join the United States Army. \u00a0Upon honorable discharge from the Army, he continued his teaching career in Ellijay, Georgia and later retired from Clover School District in South Carolina. \u00a0For 17 of the 35 years he taught, he coached basketball and football and enjoyed every minute of it. \u00a0In addition to teaching and coaching, he was the co-owner of Phillips Pet Sitting Service along with his wife Jane. \u00a0He was a member of Loray Baptist Church, a die hard Carolina Tarheels fan, and a 46 years and 10 month friend of Bill W (FOB).<\/p>\n
Those left to cherish Dillard’s memory include his wife of 31 years, Jane, of the home; brother, Gary Phillips and his wife, Sharon of Tacoma, Washington; Sister-in-law, Cathy Tolbert and her husband, Don of Gastonia; and a special cousin, Bascombe Hughes and his wife, Barbara of Powder Springs, Georgia.
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_button _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” button_url=”https:\/\/www.mcleanfuneral.com\/obituaries\/John-Dillard-Phillips?obId=34587543″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John “Dillard” PhillipsJohn “Dillard” Phillips, 80, of Gastonia, passed away Saturday, January 18, 2025 at CaroMont Regional Medical Center after a short battle with prostate cancer. \u00a0He was born May 9, 1944 in Newport News, Virginia, a son of the late Jake and Irene Dillard Phillips. Dillard grew up in Cullowhee, North Carolina and graduated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3396,"featured_media":10223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
John \"Dillard\" Phillips, 80, of Gastonia, passed away Saturday, January 18, 2025 at CaroMont Regional Medical Center after a short battle with prostate cancer. \u00a0He was born May 9, 1944 in Newport News, Virginia, a son of the late Jake and Irene Dillard Phillips. \u00a0<\/p>
Dillard grew up in Cullowhee, North Carolina and graduated college at Western Carolina University where he received his Master's Plus degree. \u00a0He began a teaching career in Thomasville, North Carolina where he taught for eight years. \u00a0He then went on to join the United States Army. \u00a0Upon honorable discharge from the Army, he continued his teaching career in Ellijay, Georgia and later retired from Clover School District in South Carolina. \u00a0For 17 of the 35 years he taught, he coached basketball and football and enjoyed every minute of it. \u00a0In addition to teaching and coaching, he was the co-owner of Phillips Pet Sitting Service along with his wife Jane. \u00a0He was a member of Loray Baptist Church, a die hard Carolina Tarheels fan, and a 46 years and 10 month friend of Bill W (FOB).<\/p>
Those left to cherish Dillard's memory include his wife of 31 years, Jane, of the home; brother, Gary Phillips and his wife, Sharon of Tacoma, Washington; Sister-in-law, Cathy Tolbert and her husband, Don of Gastonia; and a special cousin, Bascombe Hughes and his wife, Barbara of Powder Springs, Georgia.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-132","category-obituaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11311"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11314,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311\/revisions\/11314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/classnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}