Obituary of Helen Josephine Phillips

The world has lost a true lady, leaving her family heartbroken, but grateful for her loving presence in our lives. Life without her will be so much less. Jo was born to Bowling and Irene Davenport in Muhlenberg Co., KY. A child of the Great Depression, she left home at 17 to pursue her education at Andrew Jackson Business University in Nashville and worked tirelessly to build her life. She met Pete, the love of her life, at GE in Owensboro, KY. He was given a choice of job locations and left the decision to Jo. She took no time in choosing California and never looked back, always recalling the beauty of Los Angeles in the 50's. Always humble, polite, and quiet, her generosity and selflessness made her an everlasting role model. She demonstrated strong faith, compassion and values, often saying "character is what you do when you know no one is looking". Jo was proud of her 24-year career in the Medical Staff Office at Mt. Diablo Hospital in Concord. After her retirement, she found her greatest joy in her four granddaughters. Jo is survived by her daughter, Carol (Jim) Weisenstein, son, Alan Phillips , sister, Martha Rugg, brother, Shelby (Betty) Davenport, niece, Belinda and granddaughters Lauren, Jayne, Anne and Shelby. She was preceded in death by her husband, Pete, and daughter-in-law, Rochelle Phillips. When misfortune befalls some people, they ask "why me". Her response was "why not me?" Faced with a terminal diagnosis, Jo reacted with grace, telling us not to be sad, because she had lived a long wonderful life. She carried hope within her that she would recover enough to spend more time with family and doing the things she loved - gardening, mending, ironing and collecting beautiful things. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. We were blessed by her uncommon presence and she is greatly missed.