Robert Douglas Phillips

Robert Douglas Phillips, a professor of Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University for many years, passed away September 10, 2012 in Orem, Utah, of causes incident to Parkinson's Disease. He was 82. He was born to Robert L. Phillips and B. Olive Child on May 13, 1930 in Lehi, Utah and was the second of four children. He is preceded in death by his parents and older sister, Rosemary Choules; and is survived by a younger sister, JoAnn Drake of Ammon, Idaho and a younger brother, James J. Phillips of Draper, Utah.
Douglas spent many years in Japan. In 1950, he worked for six months as a civilian clerk in General Douglas MacArthur's Tokyo headquarters during the outbreak of the Korean War. While in Japan, he was formally called to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints in the Japanese Mission from 1950 to 1953. After completing his mission, Douglas enlisted in the United States Army. He studied Japanese at the Presidio in Monterey, California and served as an interpreter-translator in Japan from 1955 to 1957.
Douglas attended Brigham Young University, serving as Sophomore Class President during the 1949-1950 school year. He later studied classics at the Universities of Tuebingen and Goettingen in Germany, and received his PhD from the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. He was recruited by J. Reuben Clark III in 1966 to build the nascent Classics Department at BYU, of which he was a member until his retirement in 1996, serving as chairman twice. He was a beloved teacher and an exceptional scholar.
Douglas married Margarete Ruth Waschulczick, the love of his life, on October 29, 1957 in the Salt Lake Temple. They raised five children: Gregory D. Phillips (Cynthia) of Sandy, Utah; Katherine R. Maines (Ronald) of Alpine, Utah; Marcus C. Phillips (Rhonda) of Lehi, Utah; Rosemary M. Heilner (Joseph) of Plano, Texas, and Julia J. Woolf (Derick) of American Fork, Utah. Their posterity includes 19 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Douglas was a deeply committed servant of the Lord. He served as bishop of the Provo 21st Ward and also as a high councilor. He and Ruth served multiple missions for the LDS Church. He was called to open the Greece-Athens Mission, serving as Mission President from 1990 to 1993. He was reminded often that he was reopening that mission in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. Douglas served as a District President at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah from 1996 to 1998; and he and Ruth were missionaries in the Freiberg, Germany Temple from 1998 to 2000.
He was a man of extraordinary intelligence and broad interests. He could as easily talk about contemporary political and social issues, as about ancient Roman history, the nuance of Civil War strategy or Shakespearean tragedy. He loved books, the Holy Scriptures most of all. His most distinguishing trait was his humility. He was a consummate gentleman who radiated kindness, always showing more concern for others than for himself. For the past decade, Parkinson's Disease compromised his mental powers, but never diminished the light in his soul; the simplest of physical tasks became impossible, but he never lost the grace in his voice and manner. He was a deeply good man of remarkable faith, valiant and true to the end of his journey in mortality. We love him and will miss his influence in our lives.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September, 15, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at the LDS Grandview 13th Ward Building, 1260 W 1150 N, Provo, Utah. Friends may visit with the family on Saturday morning from 9:00 to10:30, prior to the service. Interment: Lehi City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the LDS Perpetual Education Fund.