- Date Of Birth: August 4, 1931
- Date Of Death: May 26, 2022
- State: Indiana
Byron Phillips set hundreds of thousands of roof trusses, walls, floor systems, and steel structures for homes and commercial buildings in the Midwest, from Minnesota to Florida, and New York to Nebraska. Drivers in Tippecanoe County suburbs, streets, or rural areas developed from the early 1960s to 2021 cannot proceed without seeing a house or building he set or worked on. Byron died on May 26, 2022, at the age of 90.
He owned and operated Phillips Crane Service from 1987 until 2021. His work ethic, loyalty, and dedication to quality and precision was unsurpassed. Byron took pride in his family and work, a life filled with cranes, trucks, and big machinery. Because he loved what he did and enjoyed the crews he worked with, Byron worked until he was 87.
He worked in a Logansport meat packing plant to pay for his tuition at Indiana Business College. Byron paved miles of what was then Wisconsin’s Vietnam Veteran Memorial Highway, and, as an independent driver, he hauled gravel in addition to fuel for Korty Coal and Oil. He operated a crane and transported building systems for New Century Homes, National Homes, National Building Systems, and Ryder. He taught younger drivers how to operate a crane while working for National Homes. He was often sought out for his expertise in cranes.
Byron attended Manchester College but soon left with his cousin to join the Air Force to serve during the Korean War. After returning from the service, he worked for his parents’ Lafayette Café restaurant and helped establish their family-owned Pride o-th’North Resort in northern Wisconsin. He was a licensed Wisconsin fishing guide.
Byron was offered a second look when he tried out for the Pittsburgh Pirates but did not return because his friend did not advance. He loved basketball, baseball, track, golf, fishing, ice fishing, hunting, snow skiing, snowmobiling, bowling, cooking, and flying. He had a passion for cars, and during his lifetime had three Studebakers, a Thunderbird, two Corvairs, a Karmann Ghia, Saabs, a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, a Jaguar, and numerous pickup trucks among other vehicles. He liked to paint homes and signs. Byron, a Renaissance man, played the piano and harmonica, wrote poetry, and loved nature and working in the yard. He had a real estate license and a pilot’s license and was a member of the American Legion since 1968 and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association since 1997.
Byron was born on Aug. 4, 1931, in Sharpsville, Indiana, and graduated from Burlington High School in 1949. He was an Eagle Scout and acted in his school play. In 1947, he played on his high school basketball team that was defeated in the regionals by eventual state champions, Shelbyville.
Byron married Paulene LaBelle from Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, in 1957. He shared his love of flying with his son, Todd J. Phillips, who has patents in the aviation and sporting industries. He was proud of his daughter’s Ph.D. from Purdue and her job as a professor at the University of Louisville. He delighted in watching his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren participate in sports, music, and other events.
Just as he was one of the world’s best crane operators, he was one of the best sons, husbands, fathers, uncles, brother-in-laws, and cousins. In addition to his immediate family, he loved his 30 nieces and nephews, his seven sisters-in-law, and eight brothers-in-law. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Nellie Mae (Rinehart) Phillips.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Paulene (LaBelle) Phillips; daughter Selene G. Phillips (Mike Chappell); son Todd J. Phillips (Ellen Leverenz); grandsons Brandon, Jason (Erienne), and Jordan (Tori) Phillips; granddaughter Kathryn G. Phillips, and great grandsons Solomon Dane, Benjamin Byron, Stone River, and Crew Woodrow Phillips; and great granddaughters Magdalene Marie and Charlee Taylor Phillips.
