John Thomas Phillips

john phillips

December 19, 1950 ~ May 26, 2025

Born in: Brooklyn, NY
Resided in: Asheville, NC

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John Thomas Phillips, 74, of Asheville, North Carolina passed away peacefully on Monday, May 26th, 2025. He was preceded in death by his parents, John Francis Phillips and Dorothy Lamana Phillips; and brother, James Phillips.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Mary Phillips; two daughters, Jessie Phillips and Erin Phillips; three grandchildren, Mia, Sophie, and Henry; and six siblings, Raymond Phillips, Paul Phillips, Mary Ellen Castle, Carole Ann Smith, Vincent Phillips, and Kathleen Barry.

John grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended college at Wake Forest University, where he was a proud member of the 1970 ACC Championship football team. He worked as a Manufacturing Manager at R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company for over 30 years before retirement.

John enjoyed all things “sports” (particularly college football) and was an avid New York Mets fan. He was a lifelong lover of The Grateful Dead, and enjoyed having a good craft beer with his friends.

A gathering of family and friends to honor and celebrate John’s life will be held at a future date, to be determined by the family.

Services

Funeral Home Assisting The Family:

Groce Funeral Home on Tunnel Road
856 Tunnel Rd.
Asheville, NC 28805
(828)299-4416
http://www.grocefuneralhome.com

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  2. He was the absolute best. Humble, smart, and was a gentleman. He was one of my best friends. We watched football together and had a few beers. I will never forget the memories.

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  7. Mary, Jessie and Erin, our condolences. John was a great friend and neighbor. We really enjoyed and looked forward to talking about the football games, especially when Wake Forest and Army would play. We will miss John but he will remain in our memories.

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    • Tom and Linda, thank you for being such sweet, caring and gracious neighbors to my parents. It has been such a relief to know they live in such a caring community, particularly in the past year.

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  8. Mary, Jessie and Erin, my condolences. John was such a warm hearted person and good talker. It meant so much to me and our family that John and Mary attended Farrell’s life celebration. May John rest in peace and run into so many of his RRD friends as he scouts out Heaven. Susan

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  10. You’ll be missed, “Big John”. A close friend since 6th grade. I have many great memories with him. This is hitting me quite hard.
    Love ya John.

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    • Hey, Steve. Thanks for reaching out and sharing your memories and pictures with us. It means so much to hear, learn, and see all these things about dad.

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  11. John was one of the best people I had known in my life. He was true to his word and a friend.

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    • Thank you Phillip. Yes, he was an honest man with a lot of integrity. Thanks for your condolences.

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  12. I hope you all don’t mind but I shared your dad’s obituary on my Facebook page. So many of us worked with your dad at Meredith/Burda. He was a well respected man and so many people liked him. I am so sorry for your families loss. Dennis and Karen Ester

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    • Thank you Dennis & Karen. We are happy that you shared with your network. He worked there for a long time and retired from the company when it was called RR Donnelley.

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